People carry bodies identified by mourners as Hamas’ military wing commander Mohammad Odeh, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Tuesday, and his wife and children, during a funeral, in Gaza City, May 27, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Dozens of Palestinians carried the body of Hamas‘ armed wing chief through the streets of Gaza City in a funeral procession on Wednesday, a day after Israel killed him as it moves to eliminate the terrorist group’s top brass.

The Israeli military said Mohammad Odeh was killed in a targeted attack on Tuesday night, just over a week after his predecessor, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, was killed in an Israeli strike on a Gaza apartment block.

The deaths mean there are few terrorist leaders left in Gaza to lead the Islamist group’s armed wing, at a time when Israel and Hamas are deadlocked in US-brokered talks to advance President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza‘s future.

MOURNERS SAY KILLINGS WON’T STOP PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE

The Israeli strike that targeted Odeh also killed his wife and son, his family said. Mourners carried their three bodies, covered in white burial shrouds, past buildings that were bombed out during Israel‘s two-year military campaign in Gaza.

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.

Hamas-controlled Gaza health officials say the strike that killed Odeh, his wife, and son left at least three others dead and more than 20 wounded. The strike destroyed the upper floor of an apartment building in the Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City.

Rescue workers dug through the rubble for more possible casualties earlier on Wednesday.

ISRAEL SAYS ODEH WAS INVOLVED IN 2023 ATTACK

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Odeh headed Hamas‘ intelligence division at the time of the Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack into Israel that triggered the Gaza war and was appointed about a week ago to replace Haddad, the group’s chief armed commander, who was killed by Israel on May 15.

Sources close to Hamas said Odeh was possibly the last remaining living member of the Hamas armed wing’s higher leadership council.

Israel has killed dozens of Hamas leaders and military officials since the start of the Gaza war and top officials including Netanyahu and his defense minister, Israel Katz, have vowed to kill or capture anyone it says was involved in the October 2023 attacks.

Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered about 1,200 people, kidnapped over 250 hostages, and perpetrated widespread sexual violence during their Oct. 7 invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.

In a statement after Odeh’s killing, Katz said Hamas would no longer exercise civilian or military control over Gaza and that a plan for what he described as “voluntary migration” from the enclave would also be implemented “at the right time and in the right way.”

Since the October truce, Israel has killed some 900 Palestinians, according to figures from Gaza health officials that do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants during the same period, the military says.

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.

Last week, the US-led Board of Peace’s director-general and high representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, called Hamas’ refusal to lay down its arms and relinquish control the “principal obstacle” to peace in the enclave.

The ceasefire agreed in October left Israel in control of more than half of Gaza, with Hamas controlling the part of the coastal territory where the vast majority of the population lives. According to local reports, the terrorist group has tightened its grip over the area it controls with brutal force while trying to rearm.