Second Hamas Military Wing Member Martyred in Gaza

TEHRAN (Defapress) - The Israeli army announced on Saturday that it had targeted the senior Hamas commander, Raed Saeed, in an attack on a car in Gaza City. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the attack left four martyrs and at least 25 wounded.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed in a joint statement: “In response to the explosion of a Hamas homemade bomb that injured our forces, the order to eliminate Raed Saeed, the head of Hamas’s military capabilities development department, was issued.”

The Israeli army described Saeed as one of the architects of Operation Storm al-Aqsa. An Israeli military intelligence official also said that Saeed was the main target of the attack and identified him as the head of Hamas’s weapons production department.

The Israeli army said on Saturday that a bomb lightly wounded two Israeli reservists during a clearance operation in southern Gaza.

The killing of Raed Said is the most significant assassination of a senior Hamas commander since the ceasefire agreement was implemented. Sources close to Hamas described him as the second-in-command of the group's military wing after Izz al-Din al-Haddad. Saeed was previously the commander of the Gaza City Battalion, one of Hamas' largest and best-equipped units.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israel has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians so far.

Following the ceasefire, Israel withdrew from the urban areas of Gaza, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returned to the ruins of Gaza City. However, fighting between Hamas and Israel has not stopped completely.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says the Israeli army has killed at least 386 people in airstrikes since the ceasefire began. Israel also announced that three of its soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire began.