IDF says Ali al-Amoudi, Sinwar's former aide, was target; his fate still unknown

Update, 3 October, 23:07 Israel time

The IDF has given a fuller account of why it targeted Ali al-Amoudi. In a post on X, the military named him as Ali Ahmed Al-Amoudi and said he had been Yahya Sinwar's right-hand man and personal assistant, and that he took part in decisions surrounding the October 7th massacre. The army also called him the most senior Hamas figure now in Gaza, and said he is directly involved in the group's attacks and in rebuilding it for war.

The Times of Israel reported that the military said it had acted to limit harm to civilians as far as possible, and that the statement accused Amoudi of involvement in a killing in 1993; the excerpt available does not give further detail. The paper noted that four of the five dead reported by Palestinian media were women. The IDF still says the results of the strike are under review.

Abu Ali Express, in an updated list attributed to Palestinian channels, gives the name of the Christian victim as Maria al-Najjar. The Times of Israel had named the Christian mother and daughter as Maisaa and Mary Abu Dawood. The two accounts have not been reconciled.

Hamas has still not commented on Amoudi's condition.

Update, 3 October, 22:07 Israel time

The Israeli military has now confirmed that it tried to kill Ali al-Amoudi in the overnight strike, and says the outcome is still being assessed. In a statement, the IDF spokesperson said the army and the ISA, Israel's domestic security agency, carried out the strike in an attempt to eliminate Amoudi, whom it described as deputy chairman of Hamas's political bureau in the Gaza Strip.

According to the IDF, Amoudi was at the time inside an apartment that it said Hamas used for terror activity. The military accused Hamas of using Gaza's civilian population as cover. The statement as received does not say whether Amoudi was killed, and does not address the five people Palestinian media have named as dead.

N12 correspondent Almog Boker reported that the army confirmed the details of the assassination attempt following the channel's earlier report, quoting the military as saying the results of the strike were under examination. Ynet's alert service carried the same confirmation, again describing the target as the heir to Sinwar and saying the results were being checked.

The IDF's title for Amoudi, deputy chairman of the Gaza political bureau, differs from the wording in earlier reports, which described him as Hamas's de facto leader in Gaza or as a contender to succeed the head of that branch.

There is still no statement from Hamas on Amoudi's condition.

Update, 3 October, 19:07 Israel time

Israel has so far been unable to confirm that Ali al-Amoudi was killed in the overnight strike, N12 correspondent Almog Boker reported.

The Times of Israel, in a fuller report, named the dead as identified by Palestinian media:

• Maisaa Abu Dawood and her daughter Mary, both members of Gaza's Greek Orthodox church. According to the paper, videos online showed their funeral procession on Saturday at the Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza City.
• Dr. Yasmin Al-Bobo, described as head of the multimedia department at Palestine University, and her mother.
• A 21-year-old man.

This list of two mother and daughter pairs differs from the earlier Times of Israel description summarised below, and now lines up with the breakdown given by Abu Ali Express. The newspaper also reported that rescue teams were still said to be looking for other people listed as missing, and that Amoudi had still not appeared among the named dead in Palestinian media.

Neither report includes a statement from the IDF or from Hamas on Amoudi's condition.

The story as first reported

Israeli aircraft struck a building in western Gaza City overnight in an attempt to kill Ali al-Amoudi, a senior Hamas official, The Times of Israel reported, citing a security source. Palestinian media said five people died. Amoudi was not among those named as killed, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the country's military, had not commented while it evaluated the outcome.

Ynet reported that Palestinians put the death toll at no fewer than 5 and described the target as a man many regard as the heir to Yahya Sinwar at the top of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli news site noted that the attempt came three years to the day after the Simchat Torah massacre.

Where the strike hit

The Hebrew-language Telegram channel Abu Ali Express, which tracks Arabic-language media, gave the most detailed account of the location. According to the channel, IDF fighter jets dropped several bombs on the ground floor of a building it named as al-Asala, in the Rimal neighbourhood on the western side of Gaza City, shortly after half past one in the morning.

N12, the news arm of Israel's Channel 12, circulated footage of the site and described it as the place where Amoudi, whom it called the strongest man in the Strip, had reportedly been staying.

Who Ali al-Amoudi is

The reports describe Amoudi in slightly different terms. The Times of Israel said he is believed to be the most senior Hamas political figure currently inside Gaza, acting as the group's leader there in practice if not in title. It added that he has been named in reports as a leading contender to take over from Khalil al-Hayya, who heads the Gaza Strip branch of the group's political bureau. The political bureau is the organisation's top decision-making body, distinct from its armed wing.

The Jerusalem Post called him Yahya Sinwar's successor and the Hamas leader in Gaza. Abu Ali Express referred to him as a member of the Hamas political bureau, citing Israeli sources for the claim that he was the target. Ynet's phrase, the heir to Sinwar, reflects how Israeli media have come to frame Amoudi's standing.

The people reported killed

Accounts of the dead differ in their detail. The Times of Israel, relaying Palestinian media, listed them as one young man, two adult women, and a woman killed together with her daughter.

Abu Ali Express published five names attributed to Palestinian channels. Its list described two pairs of mothers and daughters, one of the younger women identified as a Christian and another as a doctor, along with a man aged 21. The channel commented that none of the five fit the profile of a senior figure who would justify such a strike. That breakdown, with two mother and daughter pairs, does not fully match the Times of Israel description of a single mother and daughter plus two other women. Neither outlet has been able to confirm the identities independently in the material available.

The headline of the Times of Israel item referred to five other people being killed, implying a count separate from Amoudi, while its text said only that he was not named among the dead. Ynet's figure was framed as a minimum.

The date

Simchat Torah is the Jewish festival that closes the autumn holiday cycle. Israelis use the phrase Simchat Torah massacre for the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that began the war in Gaza. Ynet drew attention to the fact that the strike fell exactly three years later.

What the reports do not say

• Whether Amoudi was killed, wounded or escaped. No report confirms his condition, and no statement from Hamas appears in the material.
• What the IDF assessed. The military had not issued any account of the strike or its result at the time of reporting.
• Why the building was chosen, or what intelligence placed Amoudi there. The claim that he was the target rests on an unnamed Israeli security source and on Israeli media.
• Whether the death toll will change, or whether anyone was wounded. None of the reports give a figure for injuries.
• The identities of the dead have not been confirmed beyond Palestinian channels.