Extract from ABC News
Palestinians held a funeral for Mohammad Odeh the day after he was killed by Israel. (Reuters: Mahmoud Issa)
In short:
Dozens of Palestinians have carried the body of Hamas' armed wing chief through the streets of Gaza a day after he was killed by Israel.
Mohammad Odeh death comes little more than a week after his predecessor was killed in an Israeli strike.
What's next?
Israel says it will continue to target Hamas militant leaders.
An Israeli air strike in Gaza has killed new Hamas leader Mohammed Odeh, his wife and two of his children, the militant group has confirmed.
The Israeli military said Odeh was killed in a targeted attack on Tuesday night, local time, just over a week after his predecessor, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, was killed in an Israeli strike.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that the IDF military had targeted and killed Odeh.
The attack came on the eve of Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim holiday.
Dozens of Palestinians carried the body of Odeh through the streets of Gaza in a funeral procession on Wednesday.
Hours after Odeh's funeral, the Israeli military said it targeted two Hamas militants in a strike in northern Gaza, without disclosing their identity.
At least seven people were killed and more than 20 wounded in an Israeli strike on an apartment in a building in Gaza on Wednesday evening, health officials said.
Images from the scene showed flames pouring from an upper-floor window of a building and bystanders rushing to carry injured people, including children, to waiting ambulances.
Smoke rises from a residential building following an Israeli strike in Gaza. (Reuters: Dawoud Abu Alkas)
Funeral procession
Mourners covered the four bodies with green Hamas flags and marched from a mosque through the city, chanting and firing shots in the air.
Some carried posters with Odeh's photo, emblazoned with the words "one of the chiefs of staffs of the Qassam Brigades," referring to Hamas's military wing.
Hamas condemned the strike and said Odeh had been active with the group for more than three decades and was part of the first generation that helped establish the movement's military wing.
Almost 1,000 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire was announced. (Reuters: Mahmoud Issa)
Sources close to Hamas told Reuters that Odeh was possibly the last remaining living member of the armed wing's higher leadership council.
Abu Al-Abd Odeh, one of Odeh's relatives, said Israel's campaign would not stop Palestinians from rising up.
"This journey will not stop and the struggle of the Palestinian people will continue on all levels," he said at a mosque in Gaza City during the funeral.
Mr Katz called Odeh "one of the architects" of the October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel that triggered the years-long war in Gaza.
He said it was the fourth time Israel had killed the head of Hamas's military wing since the start of the war. Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the previous head, was killed on May 16.
Mr Katz said that Israel would continue to target Hamas leaders involved in the October 7 attack.
"We pledged that Hamas will not hold civilian or military rule," he wrote on X.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is preparing for elections in October, also said that Israel would target everyone involved in the October 7 attack.
Since the October truce, Israel has killed about 900 Palestinians, according to figures from Gazan health officials. The figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants during the same period, according to the Israeli military.
Hamas does not disclose figures for casualties among its fighters. Israel says its post-ceasefire strikes are aimed at preventing attacks or stopping people from approaching its armistice line with Hamas.
Israel and Hamas are deadlocked in indirect talks over implementing the second phase of a ceasefire deal, which includes the group's disarmament and Israeli army withdrawals.
The ceasefire agreed in October left Israel in control of more than half of Gaza.
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