Israel announced on Saturday that it attempted to assassinate Hamas’s senior leader in Gaza during an airstrike on an apartment building, an attack that local officials said resulted in the deaths of five individuals, four of whom were women.
The pre‑dawn strike coincided with the anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, according to the Jewish calendar—a day that remains the deadliest in Israel’s history and triggered a broad retaliatory offensive in Gaza.
The Israeli military stated its objective was to eliminate Ali al‑Amoudi, who it described as the “right‑hand man” of the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and who was allegedly involved in planning the October 7 attack.
Israel indicated it was assessing whether al‑Amoudi had been killed or injured in the strike.
According to Israel, the operation was authorized after intelligence confirmed his presence in the apartment building, which the military says demonstrates Hamas’s practice of shielding its operatives with civilians.
A military spokesperson said, “Today, al‑Amoudi is the most senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, directly involved in terror activities and in rebuilding the organization for war. He was targeted to eliminate the threat.”
The military added that “steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions,” and expressed “regret for any harm caused to uninvolved individuals.”
Israel eliminated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza in October 2024, an act widely regarded in Israel as a major symbolic victory. Nonetheless, Israel continues its campaign to dismantle Hamas, even after a US‑brokered ceasefire was declared a year ago.
Ali al‑Amoudi is regarded as Hamas’s most senior operative in the Gaza Strip. The group’s political leader, Khalil al‑Hayaa, resides in Qatar and has pursued diplomatic maneuvers on Hamas’s behalf.
In July, Khalil al‑Hayaa endorsed a US proposal calling for Hamas to relinquish its weapons, an agreement that President Donald Trump described as a breakthrough, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu characterized it as lacking sincerity.
– Christians among dead –
An official at Gaza City’s Al‑Shifa hospital told AFP that the facility received the bodies of five individuals and several injured persons at dawn following an airstrike in the Rimal neighbourhood.
The hospital reported that those killed were two women, their daughters, and a man.
Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency that functions under Hamas authority, said two missiles struck the apartment directly, igniting a fire and damaging the building.
Two of the five victims were Christians, according to the hospital director.
Later on Saturday, mourners convened at Gaza City’s Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius for the funeral of the two women, identified as 56‑year‑old Maysaa Abu Daoud and her 36‑year‑old daughter Mary Al‑Najjar.
Ihab Ayad, a relative of the deceased women, said they were “minding their own business” at home when Israel carried out the strike.
“We did not hurl stones or fire rockets. If any child among us carries a stone, they call him a terrorist, a murderer. But they possess the most powerful arsenal and destroy everything,” he said.
Approximately 1,000 Christians, most of them Orthodox, reside in the Palestinian territory. A larger Palestinian Christian community lives in the West Bank, though emigration has increased since the war began.
The Hamas‑led October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
In response, Israel’s large‑scale offensive has left most of Gaza in ruins and caused the deaths of more than 74,200 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose data is considered reliable by the United Nations.
Israeli forces have killed more than 1,440 people since the ceasefire was announced a year ago, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The Israeli military has reported five fatalities among its personnel and one civilian contractor over the same period.
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