After Haddad’s death, Mohammed Odeh also fell. IDF destroyed 11 km of tunnels in Beit Hanoun: details on the underground network.
The military leadership of Hamas continues to be decimated by Israeli attacks. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the elimination of Mohammed Odehconsidered the new head of the organization’s military wing in the Gaza Strip following the death of his predecessor Izz ad-Din Haddadwhich occurred just ten days ago. Also Hamasin the following hours, admitted the death of the commander.
According to what was reported byIDF and give it ShinBet, the operation was the result of months of activity intelligence and surveillanceconducted to reconstruct the movements of Odeh and his closest circle. The raid would have hit some infrastructure used by Hamas in the heart of Gaza City, an area in which the leader of the Islamist movement used to take refuge. At the same time, an apartment linked to a militant was also targeted Hamas who had taken part in the October 7 attack on Israeli territory and was considered close to Odeh. The Israeli army specified that, before the attack, measures would be taken to reduce the risk of civilian casualties, through the use of precision weapons and aerial monitoring systems. A clarification that now accompanies almost all operations in the Strip, while international accusations continue on the humanitarian costs of urban warfare Gaza. The Israeli Defense Minister also officially confirmed the elimination Israel Katz, which he defined Odeh «the fourth commander of the Hamas military wing in Gaza eliminated» since the beginning of the war. Katz reiterated that Israel will continue to target all those who participated or contributed to the attack October 7, declaring that those responsible for the massacre “are condemned to death wherever they are”.
In his statements, the minister also reiterated the government’s strategic objective Netanyahu: prevent Hamas from maintaining any form of control over the Strip, both on a military and civil level. Katz he also referred to the controversial “voluntary emigration” project of Palestinians from Gaza, claiming that the plan will be implemented “at the appropriate time”. Mohammed Odeh he was a central figure in the military apparatus of Hamas. During the conflict he had headed the intelligence headquarters of the movement and was a member of the organization’s supreme military council. In recent months he had assumed the role of deputy commander of the armed wing in the Strip, until the death of his superior, when he took his place. Second Israelwas among the organizers of the attack on October 7 2023 and one of the last high-level leaders still directly involved in planning the operation and managing subsequent military activities against Israeli troops. The elimination of Odeh It comes as the IDF continues to focus a significant portion of its operations on destroying the underground network built by Hamas over the years.
The destruction of underground tunnels in Gaza continues
In the last few hours the Israeli army announced that it had completed a vast engineering operation in the area Beit Hanoun, in the north of Stripwhere over eleven kilometers of tunnels were identified and destroyed. The underground tunnel system of Hamas represents one of the key elements of the war fought in Strip. According to estimates released by Israel, the so-called “Gaza Metro” it could extend between 560 and 720 kilometersa length more than ten times greater than the territorial extension of Gaza itself. This would be one of the largest underground military networks ever built in a densely populated urban area. The tunnels connect Gaza City, Khan Yunis And Rafah through tunnels up to fifty meters deep, used for the transfer of fighters, weapons, ammunition and hostages. Some tunnels are wide enough to allow the passage of motorcycles and small vehicles. Israel. He has repeatedly shown how there are thousands of hidden accesses within civil buildings, schools, mosques And public facilities.
The destruction of this infrastructure became a strategic priority after the attack October 7, 2023. However, despite months of bombings, demolitions and ground operations, numerous underground passages continue to be operational, demonstrating how the system still represents a tactical advantage for Hamas in urban warfare. For years the jihadist movement has invested enormous economic resources in the construction of the underground network. Already in 2014, Israel estimated that a few dozen offensive tunnels had cost between 30 to 90 million dollars. As time passed, however, the system would expand to include bunkers, weapons depots, electrical systems, ventilation systems and fortified tunnels. According to several Western military analysts, some strategic tunnels would have required investments of several million dollars each. Israel has maintained for years that part of the materials officially intended for the civil reconstruction of the Strip, including cement and steel, were diverted to Hamas’ underground project. An accusation that has accompanied the conflict for some time and which has allowed the transformation of the Gaza subsoil into a giant invisible military infrastructureused to protect the leaders of the movement, store armaments and keep combat capabilities operational even under bombing.
