JAKARTA - Dozens of Palestinians accompanied the body of the leader of the Hamas group's wing through the streets of Gaza City in a funeral procession on Wednesday local time, a day after Israel killed him.
The Israeli military said Mohammad Odeh was killed in a targeted attack on Tuesday night local time, less than a week after his predecessor, Izz Al-Din Al-Haddad, was killed in an Israeli attack on an apartment block in Gaza.
Citing Reuters, Thursday, May 28, 2026, Odeh's death is considered to have left few living Hamas leaders.
Hours after Odeh's funeral, the Israeli military said it targeted two Hamas members without specifying their identities in an attack in northern Gaza. The attack again killed 10 civilians, including five children. While 18 others were injured.
A source said Emad Esleem, a local commander of Gaza City, was killed in the attack.
Residents who accompanied Odeh's funeral said the killing would not stop the Palestinian resistance to Israeli "occupation".
Israel's attack targeting Odeh also killed his wife and son, his family said.
The mourners carried and escorted their three bodies, covered in white shrouds, past buildings destroyed by bombs from the Israeli military's two-year offensive in Gaza.
Abu Al-Abd Odeh, one of Odeh's relatives, said the Israeli military campaign would not stop the Palestinian people from rising up and fighting for independence.
"This journey will not stop and the Palestinian people's struggle will continue at all levels," he said at a mosque in Gaza City during Odeh's funeral.
Gaza health officials said the attack that killed Odeh, his wife and son also left at least three other people dead and more than 20 wounded.
The Israeli military attack destroyed the top floor of an apartment building in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City.
Rescue workers were digging through the rubble to search for possible other victims on Wednesday morning local time.
Israel has argued Odeh was involved in the 2023 attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Odeh led the Hamas intelligence division during the cross-border attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the Israeli military's deep invasion of Gaza City.
According to Netanyahu, Odeh was appointed about a week ago to replace Haddad, the group's main armed commander, who was killed by Israel on May 15.
A source close to Hamas said Odeh is likely the last surviving member of the high-level council of Hamas' armed wing.
In a statement after Odeh's killing, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Hamas would no longer exercise civilian or military control over Gaza.
He also stressed that plans for what he described as the "voluntary migration" of Palestinians from the area would also be implemented "at the right time and in the right way."
Katz is known for being brutal towards Palestinians and continues to push for attacks on Gaza without caring about the fate of civilians who are killed or injured.
The Israeli Defense Minister was also indifferent to his government agreeing to a ceasefire with the Palestinian and Lebanese authorities.
In December 2025, for example, Katz vowed that the Israeli army would remain in Gaza even though the Gaza ceasefire agreement contained a military withdrawal agreed to by Israel and Hamas, which was mediated by the US.
"We are deep inside Gaza, and we will never leave Gaza - there will be no such thing," Katz said, quoted by AFP, Tuesday, December 23, 2025.
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