JERUSALEM/CAIRO, May 26 (Reuters) – Israel said on Tuesday it had attacked Hamas’ new armed wing chief, who it said was appointed just days earlier after Israel killed his predecessor, as it steps up military pressure in Gaza and expands ground operations in Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement the military had struck Mohammad Odeh, whom he described as Hamas’ new armed wing chief in Gaza.
He did not provide further details. Netanyahu did not say whether Israel believed he was killed.
Netanyahu said Odeh had headed Hamas’ intelligence division at the time of the October 7, 2023 cross-border attack into Israel and was appointed about a week ago to replace Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the group’s chief armed commander, who was killed by Israel on May 15.
Sources close to Hamas didn’t confirm Odeh’s appointment as the new military chief but agreed he was seen as Haddad’s possible successor, as the group’s chief of military intelligence and possibly the last remaining living member of the armed wing’s higher leadership council.
Hours before the attack, Israel announced it had expanded ground operations in Lebanon. Israel is intensifying its military activities on multiple fronts.
Gaza health officials said two persons, including a woman, were killed and more than 20 others were wounded in the Israeli strike that destroyed an upper floor of an apartment building in Rimal neighbourhood in Gaza City. Rescue workers were still at the scene looking for more possible casualties.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas.
(Reporting by Rami Ayyub in Jerusalem and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
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