The Minister of Defense of Israel, Israel Katz, confirmed this Wednesday the death of the last military leader of the radical Islamist organization Hamas in Gaza, Mohamed Odeh, who becomes the fourth militant in office killed by the Israeli Army since the beginning of its offensive in the Strip, which began after the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023.

“The commander of the number four military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza was killed yesterday and sent to join his accomplices in the depths of hell,” states the statement issued by Defense.

Seven people died in the Israeli bombing of the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City in which Odeh died, reported the Shifa Hospital morgue, which received the bodies.

The deceased are Mohamed Odeh; his wife, known as Umm Amro; his children, Yasser and Yahya; his daughter, Yamila, and a man and a woman who were not identified.

Odeh became the leader of the Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, less than two weeks ago. On May 15, Israel killed his predecessor, Izz al Din al Haddad, in another bombing in the Gaza Strip capital. Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, as well as other countries.

On July 13, 2024, another Israeli bombing assassinated the Hamas military leader and one of the architects of the October 7, 2023 attacks, Mohamed Deif, in Mawasi (southern Gaza). It took months for the Islamist group to confirm his death.

Almost a year later, on May 13, 2025, Israeli armed forces killed Mohamed Sinwar, Deif's successor and brother of the then deceased Hamas leader in the enclave, Yayha Sinwar, in Khan Younis (south).

Odeh's death comes amid an increase in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Since the current ceasefire began, on October 10, 2025, Israel has occasionally bombed the area outside its military control in Gaza (some days of bombing have been close to a hundred dead) and opened fire practically daily against the population around the yellow line, the demarcation to which the troops withdrew when the truce began.

As a result of these attacks, more than 900 Palestinians have died in Gaza since last October, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

However, in recent weeks airstrikes have increased, mostly with drones, to the 40% of Gaza where the population of some 2.1 million people continues to be overcrowded.