Israel said it killed the head of weapons production in the military wing of Hamas in a strike in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.
The civil defense agency and medical sources in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory told AFP that an Israeli strike killed five people in the Tel al-Hawa district, southwest of Gaza City.
When contacted by AFP earlier on Saturday, the army did not say whether the reported strike in Tel al-Hawa was the same as the one mentioned in an army statement before the announcement that it had killed Raad Saad of Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that “in response to the detonation of a Hamas explosive device that wounded our forces today in the Yellow Zone of the Gaza Strip… (they) gave instructions for the elimination of the terrorist Raad Saad”.
Under the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Israeli troops have withdrawn to positions behind the so-called Yellow Line, although they are still in control of more than half of the territory.
Netanyahu and Katz described Saad as “one of the architects” of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
The Israeli army said that Saad was the head of the weapons production headquarters of the Hamas military wing that led the group’s “force build-up”.
Family sources confirmed his death to AFP and said that the funeral will take place on Sunday.
Israel’s military said earlier on Saturday that two reserve soldiers were slightly wounded “as a result of an explosive device that exploded during an operation to clear the area of terrorist infrastructure in southern Gaza”.
The cease-fire that came into effect on October 10 stopped fighting between Israel and Hamas, but remains fragile with each side accusing the other of violating its terms.
– Burnt car –
Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defense of Gaza which operates as a rescue force under the authority of Hamas, said that five people were killed after “a civilian jeep type vehicle was targeted near the Nabulsi roundabout in Tel al-Hawa”.
Bassal said that the “charred” bodies were taken to Al-Shifa hospital after “Israeli warplanes targeted the civilian vehicle with three missiles, causing it to burn and its destruction”.
The emergency department of the hospital confirmed to AFP the arrival of the five bodies and said that more than 25 people were injured in the strike.
AFP footage showed a wrecked car with vehicle parts scattered around next to other debris.
“Warplanes fired several missiles at the vehicle, setting it on fire. The residents ran to put out the fire, and burnt body parts were scattered on the ground,” said a witness, who did not wish to give his name for security reasons, said in the Tal al-Hawa area.
Another witness, a 34-year-old man who lives in a tent in the area of Tel al-Hawa, said that he “saw several members of Hamas arrive at the place of the attack”, without providing more details.
The spokesman for the Bassal civil defense agency also said that a 17-year-old boy and an 18-year-old boy were killed by Israeli fire in two separate incidents in Gaza.
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