Israel claims top Hamas leader killed in Gaza

A top Hamas commander has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. The Israeli military has claimed to have killed senior Hamas commander Raed Saad in an airstrike in Gaza City. This information was reported in a report by Al Jazeera on Sunday (December 14).
Earlier, on Saturday (December 13), a joint statement by the Israeli army (IDF) and the Shin Bet security agency said that Raed Saad, the head of the weapons production department of the Qassem Brigades, Hamas’ military wing in Gaza City, had been “eliminated”. Israel said that Raed Saad was one of the most influential commanders of the Qassem Brigades. He led several brigades in attacks on Israeli settlements in the eastern part of Gaza City on October 7, 2023.
Meanwhile, Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Gaza Civil Defense, told the BBC that at least four people were killed and several others, including pedestrians, were injured in the attack. A local Hamas official in Gaza said that an aide to Raed Saad and another junior officer named Abu Imad al-Laban were killed in the attack.
However, the BBC reported that it was not possible to independently verify the details of the incident from inside Gaza due to Israeli restrictions. Meanwhile, the IDF and Shin Bet statements also said that Raed Saad was responsible for the deaths of many Israeli soldiers in Gaza using explosive devices. He is also believed to have been a member of Hamas’s new five-member military leadership council after the ceasefire that came into effect in October.
It is worth noting that Israel has attempted to assassinate Raed Saad several times before. He was arrested or killed in a surprise raid in Gaza City in March 2024. Sources said he was present at the targeted building but fled just before the operation began. He had been on Israel’s “most wanted” Hamas leader list for more than two decades.