CAIRO: The Israeli military clai­med to have struck a car in Gaza City carrying Hamas leader Raed Saed, who is accused by Tel Aviv of masterminding the Oct 7, 2023 raids.

According to health authorities in Gaza, the strike killed four people. There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas or medics whether Saed was among the dead.

The Israeli military said it had targeted “a senior Hamas commander” in Gaza City, without giving a name or further details. If Saed was killed, it would be the highest-profile assassination of a senior Hamas figure since a ceasefire deal came into effect in October.

An Israeli defence official des­cribed Saed as “the head of Hamas’s weapon manufacturing force”.

Hamas sources have also desc­ri­bed him as the second-in-command of the group’s armed wing, after Izzeldeen Al Hadad. Saed used to head Hamas’s Gaza City battalion, one of the group’s largest and best-equipped, those sources said.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza Strip after the Oct 7 raid has killed more than 70,700 Palestinians, most of them civilians, health officials in Gaza say.

The Oct 10 ceasefire has enabled hundreds of thousands of Pales­tinians to return to Gaza City’s ruins. Israel has pulled troops back from city positions, and aid flows have increased. But violence has not completely halted. Palestinian health authorities say Israeli forces have killed 386 people in strikes in Gaza since the truce.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2025