Israel has killed Hamas’s key financier just 24 hours after eliminating the terror group’s newly appointed military wing commander — delivering a double blow to the organisation’s leadership and operational capacity as its campaign to dismantle those responsible for the October 7 massacre accelerates.
The Israel Defence Forces killed Ihab Khrizim, leader of a central Hamas funds transfer network, in a strike on Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. Khrizim was responsible for overseeing the transfer of millions of dollars to Hamas’ military wing and had continued operating in violation of the ceasefire, according to the IDF. “His actions enabled the promotion and execution of terror plots in the immediate timeframe against IDF forces operating in the Gaza Strip and civilians of the State of Israel,” the military said. The IDF also killed Hamas unit commander Muhammad al-Habash, who took part in manufacturing weapons for the terror group.
The strikes came just 24 hours after the killing of Mohammed Odeh, who had only days earlier been appointed head of the Qassam Brigades — Hamas’s feared armed wing. Mohammed Odeh was “responsible for planning and coordinating Hamas terrorists’ infiltration and attack targets during the October 7 Massacre,” according to the IDF, which said the operation “followed months of intelligence monitoring aimed at tracking the movements of Odeh and his operatives.”
Hamas confirmed on Wednesday that Israeli forces had killed Odeh, his wife and two of his sons in a strike targeting a residential building in Gaza City. A source at al-Shifa Hospital told Al Jazeera that six people were killed and 20 others wounded in the attack on the Remal neighbourhood in the western part of Gaza City. Al Jazeera’s correspondent on the ground described “a lot of destruction” in what she said was a busy area filled with markets and shops as residents were preparing for the Eid al-Adha holiday.
Odeh had previously been in charge of Hamas’ intelligence headquarters before reportedly taking over as head of the military wing following the death of the previous leader Izz al-Din al-Haddad earlier this month. Odeh was described by Israeli officials as the last remaining “architect” of the October 7 attacks still alive. “Odeh was responsible for the murder, abduction, and wounding of many Israeli citizens and IDF soldiers,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement. Katz declared the terror chief was now “in the depths of hell,” adding: “We pledged to eliminate everyone who led the October 7 massacre and this is what we will do — they are all bound to die, everywhere.”
Large crowds gathered in Gaza City for Odeh’s funeral, with mourners firing gunshots into the air as the bodies of the four victims — draped in Hamas’s green flags — were carried through the streets.
The rapid succession of high-profile eliminations reflects Israel’s accelerating campaign to decapitate Hamas’s remaining leadership structure. The chain of command has been decimated at pace: Odeh’s predecessor Haddad was himself killed on 15 May, having risen to the post after the assassination of Mohammed Sinwar. Hamas has not yet formally named a successor to Odeh.
The killings come as the wider regional picture remains deeply volatile. Israel is monitoring high-stakes US-Iran negotiations aimed at ending the conflict, while President Donald Trump has made clear he will not accept any arrangement that grants Iran or its allies control over the Strait of Hormuz — a waterway that in normal times carries one fifth of the world’s oil supply and whose closure has sent shockwaves through global energy markets since Iran shut it following earlier US and Israeli airstrikes.
