Israel reportedly targets senior Hamas terrorist Raed Saad with airstrike in Gaza

IDF hasn’t commented officially yet, confirmation still outstanding

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The Israel Defense Forces struck Raed Saad, a senior official of Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Saturday evening, Israeli media reported, citing Palestinian sources.

At the time of publication, the IDF hadn’t commented on the strike and Saad’s death wasn’t verified yet.

The IDF stated it struck two military sites of Hamas in Gaza City and would provide further information later.

Unverified footage from the Gaza Strip showed the alleged target of the strike – a bombed-out compound in the Shati camp – with several buildings completely reduced to rubble.

תיעוד: כך נראה המתחם שבו הפציץ צה״ל בצהריים בעוצמה בניסיון החיסול של בכיר חמאס ראאד סעד במחנה הפליטים שאטי. מספר בניינים הופלו במקום.
הפלסטינים טוענים כי בתקיפות נהרגו 50 בני אדם

דורון קדוש pic.twitter.com/JMrqwTu3bp
— Gera. Belik ( גרשון ) (@gershon27) June 22, 2024

Hamas sources claimed that about 50 people were killed in two Israeli strikes.

Saad served as the commander of the operations department of Hamas’ military wing and was a member of its general staff, according to media reports.

The Israeli army was about to catch the commander last March during the large-scale IDF raid on Shifa Hospital.

According to Army Radio, when the operation began, Saad was in the hospital but managed to slip out and escape just before the IDF surrounded the area. The IDF arrested hundreds of terrorists, however, Saad was not found among them.

Saad is a veteran terrorist and is fourth in the Hamas military wing’s command hierarchy, after its commander Muhammad Deif, Marwan Issa, who was eliminated by Israel in March, and Muhammad Sinwar, brother of Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

Saad is one of six senior headquarters commanders in the military wing, of which two were killed by Israeli forces so far.