ISRAEL SAID TODAY it had killed the new head of Hamas’s armed wing in Gaza, Mohammed Odeh, while strikes on southern Lebanon killed 31 people, both on Tuesday.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the “commander of the armed wing of the Hamas terrorist organisation in Gaza was eliminated yesterday and sent to meet his associates in the depths of hell”.

Hamas has not yet commented.

“In the prime minister’s name and in my own, congratulations to the IDF and the Shin Bet on the brilliant execution,” Katz said in a post on X.

“We committed ourselves to eliminating everyone who led the 7 October massacre, and that is what we will do: they are all marked for death, wherever they may be.”

After announcing the strike on Gaza on Tuesday, Katz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a joint statement that Odeh had “served as head of Hamas intelligence during the 7 October massacre and was appointed approximately one week ago as successor to Ezzedine al-Haddad”.

Haddad was killed by an Israeli strike on 15 May.

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

Israel’s retaliatory response in Gaza has killed at least 72,803 people, according to the territory’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority.

Lebanon

In a statement, the Lebanese health ministry said 31 people, including at least four children and three women, were killed in attacks and 40 were wounded.

Fourteen were killed in Burj al-Shamali near Tyre, five in Kawthariyat al-Riz, four in Habbush, six in Maarakeh and two in Salaa.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said one of the strikes hit the vicinity of a public hospital, causing “significant damage to the hospital’s departments”.

The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for at least 50 southern and eastern towns and villages on Tuesday, including Nabatieh city.

Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a truce in its war with Hezbollah, saying it is targeting the group, while the latter has claimed several attacks on Israeli positions in southern Lebanon and Northern Israel.

Lebanese authorities say more than 3,100 people have been killed by Israeli strikes since 2 March, when Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war by attacking Israel in support of its backer Iran.

Israeli strikes have also targeted Hamas operatives in Lebanon and senior Iran-backed Hezbollah commanders allied with the group, including former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

- © AFP 2026