Israel says its military killed Hamas commander Raed Saed in Gaza City strike | Israel-Gaza war
Senior Hamas commander Raed Saed was killed in an attack on a vehicle in Gaza City, the Israeli military said on Saturday.
According to Gaza health officials, four people died and at least 25 were injured in the attack. There has been no confirmation yet from Hamas or medical officials that Saed is among the dead.
“In response to the activation of the Hamas explosive device that injured our forces today… Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense minister Israel Katz ordered the elimination of the terrorist Raed Saed, who heads the Hamas power base,” the prime minister and defense minister said in a joint statement.
The Israeli military described Saed as “one of the architects” of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. The army said early Saturday that two reservists were slightly injured when an explosive device detonated “during an operation to clear the area” in southern Gaza.
Saed’s death would be the most significant assassination of a senior Hamas figure since the ceasefire agreement came into force in October.
An Israeli defense official stated that Saed was targeted in the attack and described himself as the head of Hamas’s weapons production force.
Hamas sources described him as the second-in-command of the group’s armed wing after Izz Elden El Hadad.
Sources said Saed headed the Gaza City battalion, one of Hamas’ largest and best-equipped battalions.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants launched an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 people hostage. Health officials in Gaza said more than 70,700 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed in Israel’s retaliatory attack.
The October 10 ceasefire allowed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the ruins of Gaza city. Israel withdrew its soldiers from urban positions and aid flows increased.
However, the violence has not stopped completely. Palestinian health officials say Israeli forces have killed at least 386 people in attacks in Gaza since the ceasefire. Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed and several other fighters have been attacked since the ceasefire began.
