IDF attempts to eliminate Sinwar’s successor in Gaza

Al-Amoudi previously headed Hamas’s propaganda and media operations and was released from Israeli prison in the 2011 Shalit prisoner swap, together with Sinwar.

By David Israel, TPS

The IDF and Shin Bet struck a Gaza safe house overnight Friday into Saturday in an attempt to kill Ali al-Amoudi, widely regarded as the successor to Yahya Sinwar as Hamas’s de facto leader in the Strip.

An Israeli official told Israeli media that al-Amoudi was in the apartment at the time of the strike and that his chances of survival are slim, though results remain unconfirmed; Gaza sources reported five people killed in the strike, including four women, two of them identified as Christian Gaza residents.

Al-Amoudi effectively leads Hamas in Gaza through a body known as the “Government Emergency Committee” and was reportedly contesting the position in internal elections that were expected soon.

He took on the role after Khalil al-Hayya, the previous Hamas leader in Gaza, was named head of the group’s political bureau.

Al-Amoudi previously headed Hamas’s propaganda and media operations and was released from Israeli prison in the 2011 Shalit prisoner swap, together with Sinwar.

He remained close to Sinwar both in prison and after and was closely involved in planning the October 7 massacre.

The strike is part of an intensifying Israeli campaign targeting senior Hamas figures ahead of the war’s three-year mark this week.

The IDF and Shin Bet said September alone saw 70 operatives killed, including three brigade commanders, two battalion commanders, and nine company commanders, among them Hamas’s northern Gaza brigade commander, Izz al-Din Bik, whom the military said had personally overseen the captivity of more than a dozen Israeli hostages, several of whom died in his custody.