Israel says it has attempted to kill Ali al-Amoudi, described as the most senior Hamas figure in the Gaza Strip, in an airstrike on an apartment building in Gaza City.
The pre-dawn strike, which occurred on the anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attack according to the Jewish calendar, reportedly killed five people and injured several others.
The Israeli military identified al-Amoudi as the “right-hand man” of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and accused him of being involved in planning the October 7 attack.
The military said it was still assessing whether al-Amoudi was killed or wounded in the strike.
According to the Israeli military, al-Amoudi was targeted after intelligence indicated that he was inside an apartment building in Gaza City’s Rimal neighbourhood.
It described him as the most senior Hamas figure currently operating in Gaza and accused him of being directly involved in the group’s militant activities and efforts to rebuild its organisation.
The military said it took measures to reduce civilian casualties, including the use of precision-guided weapons, while expressing regret over any harm caused to civilians.
However, an official at Al-Shifa Hospital told newsmen that five bodies and several injured people were brought to the facility following the strike.
The official said the victims included two women, their daughters and a man, while the hospital director said two of those killed were Christians.
Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza’s civil defence agency, said two missiles struck the apartment directly, triggering a fire and damaging the building.
Israel killed Yahya Sinwar in Gaza in October 2024, describing his death as a major blow to Hamas. However, Israel has continued to insist on dismantling the group despite a US-brokered ceasefire declared a year ago.
Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, who is based in Qatar, has continued diplomatic efforts on behalf of the group. He agreed in July to a US proposal for Hamas to surrender its weapons, a development President Donald Trump described as a breakthrough, although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the move as insincere.
