Israel kills senior Hamas commander Raed Saed in Gaza strike
Last updated: December 13, 2025 | 20:59
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a car in Gaza City on Saturday. AFP
Emergency personnel inspect body bags of victims at Al-Shifa Hospital targeted by an Israeli strike on a car in Gaza City, on December 13, 2025. The US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas — entered into force on October 10, nearly two years after the Gaza war erupted following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Israeli military said it killed senior Hamas commander Raed Saed, one of the architects of the Oct.7, 2023 attacks on Israel, in a strike on a car in Gaza City on Saturday.
It was the highest-profile assassination of a senior Hamas figure since a Gaza ceasefire deal came into effect in October.
In a joint statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said Saed was targeted in response to an attack by Hamas in which an explosive device injured two soldiers earlier on Saturday.
Palestinians and Emergency personnel carry a white body bag of a victim at Al Shifa Hospital targeted by an Israeli strike on a car in Gaza City. AFP
The attack on the car in Gaza City killed five people and wounded at least 25 others, according to Gaza health authorities. There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas or medics that Saed was among the dead.
HAMAS SAYS ATTACK VIOLATES CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT
An Israeli military official described Saed as a high-ranked Hamas member who helped establish and advance the group's weapons production network.
"In recent months, he operated to reestablish Hamas' capabilities and weapons manufacturing, a blatant violation of the ceasefire," the official said.
Hamas sources have also described him as the second-in-command of the group's armed wing, after Izz eldeen Al Hadad.
Saed used to head Hamas' Gaza City battalion, one of the group's largest and best-equipped, those sources said.
Hamas, in a statement, condemned the attack as a violation of the ceasefire agreement but did not say whether Saed was hurt and stopped short of threatening retaliation.
