Israel says strikes killed two Hamas commanders, one of them in Gaza City

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) said on Monday that separate strikes in the Gaza Strip had killed two members of Hamas's armed wing. According to a joint announcement from the IDF spokesperson, a strike in Gaza City on Saturday killed Mohammed Halawa, whom the military described as a commander in Hamas's military intelligence apparatus.

The same statement said an earlier strike, on Thursday of the previous week, killed Ahmed Zahir Fuad Abu-Odeh, identified by the IDF as an engineering commander in the group's military wing. Emanuel Fabian, military correspondent for The Times of Israel, reported the announcement, describing Halawa as a Hamas intelligence officer and Abu-Odeh as an engineering officer. The statement did not give a location for the Thursday strike.

Who announced the strikes

The announcement was issued jointly by the IDF spokesperson and the spokesperson's office of the ISA. The ISA, widely known in Israel as the Shin Bet (Hebrew acronym: Shabak), is the country's internal security service. It is responsible for counterterrorism intelligence and frequently works alongside the military in identifying targets in Gaza. Joint statements of this kind are a common format when the two bodies say intelligence from the ISA contributed to a strike.

The same text was circulated in Hebrew. The Hebrew version published by News.co.il carries the joint heading of both spokespersons and names the two men in Hebrew transliteration. Ynet's alerts channel also carried a brief headline on the killings, attributing it to the IDF and the Shin Bet.

What Israel says the two men did

The military did not detail specific operations attributed to either man. In its statement, quoted by Fabian, the IDF said that over the course of the war, and particularly in recent times, the two had pushed forward attacks targeting Israeli soldiers and civilians, and had worked to rebuild Hamas's capabilities.

In a post on X, the IDF went further, saying the pair acted "in systematic violation of the ceasefire" and were killed to remove the threat they posed. The post does not explain what form the alleged violations took.

Hamas's military wing and its departments

Hamas, the Islamist movement that has controlled the Gaza Strip, maintains an armed wing that is organised into units with distinct roles. The IDF's description places Halawa within the wing's military intelligence apparatus, the department that gathers information for planning operations. Abu-Odeh's title, engineering commander, refers in Israeli military usage to the side of the organisation that deals with explosives, tunnels and related construction. The statement did not specify which unit or area Abu-Odeh served in.

Gaza City and the ceasefire context

Gaza City is the largest urban area in the Gaza Strip and lies in its northern part. The Hebrew text of the joint statement, as carried by News.co.il, places Gaza City in the south of the Strip; the English version issued by the IDF names only Gaza City, without a direction.

The IDF's reference to a ceasefire indicates the strikes took place while a truce was formally in force. Israel has in this period announced a number of targeted strikes in Gaza that it says were directed at militants planning attacks or rearming, framing each as a response to violations by Hamas. The reports here do not include any response from Hamas.

Where the accounts differ

The accounts agree on the names and roles of the two men but differ on some details:

• Timing: The IDF's Telegram statement places the strikes on Thursday and Saturday. The IDF's post on X says both men were killed "over the weekend".
• Halawa's rank: The IDF calls him a commander in military intelligence; Fabian's report describes him as an intelligence officer.
• Geography: As noted above, the Hebrew statement describes Gaza City as being in the south of the Strip, which the English statement does not.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports gives a location for the Thursday strike that killed Abu-Odeh, or describes the method of either strike, such as whether aircraft or drones were used. They do not say whether anyone else was killed or wounded, and they include no casualty figures from Gaza's health authorities or any comment from Hamas confirming or disputing the deaths. The military's claims about the men's activities, including the allegation of ceasefire violations, are not supported in the reports by specific incidents, and none of the outlets indicates it has verified them independently. It is also not explained why the announcement came days after both strikes.