Israel Says it Killed Hamas Weapons Chief in Gaza

The civil defense agency and medical sources in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory told AFP that five people were killed in an Israeli attack in the Tel al-Hawa district southwest of Gaza city.

The army contacted by AFP said that there was only one attack in the region, in which Raad Saad, a senior Hamas figure, was killed.

“In response to the explosion of a Hamas explosive device that injured our forces in the Yellow Zone of the Gaza Strip today… (they) ordered the elimination of terrorist Raad Saad,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement.

Under a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Israeli troops have withdrawn to positions behind the so-called Yellow Line, but they still control more than half of the area.

Netanyahu and Katz described Saad as “one of the architects” of the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza.

The Israeli military said Saad was the head of the arms production headquarters of Hamas’ military wing and was leading the group’s “accumulation of power.”

Family sources confirmed his death to AFP and said the funeral would be held on Sunday.

The Israeli military said in a statement early Saturday that two reservists were slightly injured “as a result of an explosive device detonated during an operation to clear the terrorist infrastructure area in southern Gaza.”

A ceasefire that took effect on October 10 has halted fighting between Israel and Hamas, but it remains fragile as each side accuses the other of violating the terms of the agreement.

– Burnt car –

Gaza civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal, who operates as a rescue force under Hamas authority, said five people were killed after “a civilian jeep-type vehicle was targeted near the Nabulsi intersection in Tel al-Hawa.”

Bassal said that the “charred” bodies were taken to Al-Shifa hospital after “Israeli warplanes targeted the civilian vehicle with three missiles, causing it to burn and destroy.”

The hospital’s emergency room confirmed to AFP that five bodies had arrived and said more than 25 people were injured in the attack.

AFP footage showed a smashed car with vehicle parts scattered among other debris.

An eyewitness, who did not want to give his name for security reasons, said, “Warplanes fired many missiles at the vehicle and set it on fire” in the Tel el-Hawa region.

“Citizens rushed to put out the fire, and charred body parts were scattered on the ground.”

Another witness, a 34-year-old man living in a tent in the Tel al-Hawa district, said he “saw several Hamas members coming to the area of ​​the attack”, without providing further details.

Civil defense agency spokesman Bassal also said that a 17-year-old boy and an 18-year-old boy were killed by Israeli fire in two separate incidents in Gaza.