Israel announces deadly strike on senior Hamas commander Raed Saad

by · UPI

Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Israel Defense Forces targeted and killed senior Hamas commander Raed Saad while he traveled in a vehicle in Gaza on Saturday, Israeli officials said.

The IDF and Israeli security agency Shin Bet announced the strike in a joint statement and said Saad was in charge of producing weapons for the Qassam Brigades, which is Hamas' military force, the BBC reported.

Saad also led several brigades that attacked, killed and captured Israeli civilians during the Oct. 7, 2023, assault that triggered the war in Gaza.

The Israeli Prime Minister's office said Saturday's attack was done in retaliation for a Hamas attack on Israeli forces in Gaza.

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"In response to the detonation of a Hamas explosive device that wounded our forces today in the Yellow Area of the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz directed that the senior Hamas terrorist Raed Saad be eliminated," the Prime Minister's office said in a post on X.

The yellow zone referenced by Israeli officials is a demarcation line agreed upon by Hamas and Israeli officials in the cease-fire agreement, which created a safe zone for the IDF within Gaza.

Israeli officials called the alleged attack that wounded IDF personnel a "blatant violation of the cease-fire rules," and said Saad "was engaged in re-arming for acts of terrorism" and not "promoting demilitarization."

"Whoever raises his hand against Israel and harms IDF soldiers, his hand will be cut off in Gaza and everywhere else," Israeli officials said.

Hamas officials did not confirm Saad's death but said four people died in the strike on the vehicle that the IDF targeted within Gaza in an area controlled by Hamas, per the cease-fire agreement made on Oct. 10.

Hamas officials called the strike a "criminal breach of the cease-fire agreement," but did not say Saad was among those killed, The New York Times reported.

Hamas often delays confirmation of deaths among its leadership until weeks or months afterward, The Times added.

The vehicle was traveling along Gaza's coastal road, and the bodies were taken to Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which is located in the northern Gaza Strip.

Israel has targeted Saad for death for the past two decades and made several attempts to kill him prior to Saturday's strike, according to the BBC.