Katz says Israel advancing 'voluntary emigration' from Strip

Hamas military chief Mohammed Odeh killed by Israel, 11 days after predecessor slain

Gaza media affiliated with terror group says Odeh killed with wife and sons; Netanyahu and Katz vow Israel to ‘continue pursuing everyone who took part in the Oct. 7 massacre’

Israel on Tuesday evening carried out a strike in the Gaza Strip targeting new Hamas military chief Mohammed Odeh, 11 days after killing his predecessor.

Gaza’s civil defense agency, which operates as a rescue service under Hamas, reported at least three people were killed and 20 wounded in the strike in the Rimal neighborhood of western Gaza City.

Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed Odeh’s death on Wednesday morning.

“The fourth commander of the Hamas terror organization’s military wing in Gaza was eliminated yesterday and sent to meet his partners in the depths of hell,” he said in a post on X, praising the IDF and Shin Bet for their “brilliant execution.”

“We pledged to eliminate everyone who led the October 7 massacre, and that is what we will do,” Katz wrote. “They are all marked for death, everywhere.”

He also reiterated Israel’s goals of removing Hamas from power in Gaza and advancing what he described as a “voluntary emigration” from the enclave, “at the right time and in the right manner.”

While there was no immediate comment from Hamas, Gaza media outlets affiliated with the terror group reported Wednesday morning that he was killed alongside his wife and sons.

An earlier statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Katz said Odeh was head of Hamas intelligence during the October 7, 2023, attacks, and last week was appointed to succeed Izz al-Din al-Haddad as chief of the terror group’s military wing in the Gaza Strip.

Al-Haddad was killed in a similar strike in Gaza City on May 15.

“Odeh was responsible for the murder, abduction and injury of many Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers,” said Netanyahu and Katz.

According to the Saudi A-Sharq Al-Awsat outlet, Odeh was close to al-Haddad and worked with him to “renew the organizational structure” of Hamas following the assassination of its former leaders Muhammad Deif and Muhammad Sinwar during the war sparked by the October 7 invasion of southern Israel.

Citing a source familiar with the details, the report said Odeh was initially approached to lead the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades following Sinwar’s assassination in May 2025, but declined. However, the two other sources said they could not confirm that it was the case. Sinwar’s brother Yahya was the head of Hamas before being killed by the IDF in May 2024.

The report added that Odeh was tasked with gathering intelligence on IDF bases near the Gaza border and on weak points in the military’s Gaza Division in the run-up to October 7.

Odeh, estimated to be in his late 40s to early 50s, grew up in Gaza and was reported to have been involved with Hamas his whole life. In the past, he was involved with the group’s security unit that sought out Israeli spies.

Israel previously targeted Odeh several times, including a strike on his father’s house in Gaza in 2025 killed his eldest son, Amr.

“We will continue to pursue everyone who took part in the October 7 massacre,” said Netanyahu and Katz. “Sooner or later, Israel will reach them all.”

Despite the ceasefire that has been in place in Gaza since October, Israel has kept up its campaign against the perpetrators of October 7, with a report last week in the Wall Street Journal saying it has created a list of all Palestinians who took part in the attack and is working to kill or arrest each one.

According to the report, the list includes all Gazans who were identified as having crossed the border on October 7, as well as all Hamas leaders involved in orchestrating the massacre, during which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, mostly civilians, in the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

Along with al-Haddad and Odeh, the IDF announced last week it killed a Hamas operative who invaded Israel on October 7, without naming him.

Agencies and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.