IDF slays top Hamas commander who helped plan Oct. 7 massacre

The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday killed “one of the last remaining veteran senior terrorists in the Gaza Strip,” the IDF and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) said in a joint statement.

“Ra’ad Sa’ad was a leading figure in the leadership of Hamas’s military wing in recent months and was directly responsible for violations of the ceasefire agreement by the Hamas terrorist organization,” the statement continued.

He was one of the architects of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, invasion and massacre in the northwestern Negev, the IDF and Shin Bet added.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that they instructed the security forces to kill Sa’ad following the activation of a Hamas explosive device that wounded two IDF reserve soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip earlier on Saturday.

The Hamas commander was engaged in carrying out attacks against Israel, as well as rebuilding Hamas’s offensive capabilities, while “blatantly violating” the terms of the ceasefire, the Israeli leaders said.

“Instead of advancing demilitarization, he was working to rearm for acts of terror. Anyone who raises a hand against Israel and harms IDF soldiers—his hand will be cut off in Gaza and anywhere else,” Netanyahu and Katz said.

Sa’ad held a series of senior positions and was a close associate of Marwan Issa, deputy head of Hamas’s “military” wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, according to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. The Israeli Air Force killed Issa on March 10, 2024.

After completing his tenure as commander of Hamas’s Gaza Brigade, Sa’ad was appointed head of the group’s “Operations Headquarters, within which he established the Nukhba Battalions and participated in the shaping and construction of the ‘Jericho Wall’ plan, upon which Hamas’s plans for the Oct. 7 massacre were based,” the IDF said.

“Subsequently, Sa’ad was appointed head of the Weapons Production Headquarters and was responsible for the production of all types of weapons for Hamas’s military wing ahead of the October 7 massacre, and later also for the rehabilitation of Hamas’s weapons production capabilities during the war,” the military added.

His death “significantly degrades Hamas’s ability to reestablish its capabilities,” the IDF said.

Before the Swords of Iron war, he was identified as No. 4 in the Hamas “military” hierarchy after Mohammed Deif, Marwan Issa and Yahya Sinwar. After Israel killed all three men, Israeli intelligence officials considered Sa’ad to be the No. 2 leader in the Al-Qassam Brigades, after Izz al-Din al-Haddad.

The attack was reportedly carried out by a drone with three missiles that hit a moving vehicle in the western part of Gaza City. All four in the car, Sa’ad among them, were likely killed, Channel 12 reported.

Following the initial strikes, the IDF fired another missile to ensure that no one survived the attack, the report continued.

In a separate statement, the IDF said that two reserve soldiers were lightly wounded earlier in the day when an explosive device detonated while they were clearing terrorist infrastructure in the southern Gaza Strip. The soldiers were evacuated to a hospital and their families were notified.

The Israeli Air Force tried to kill Sa’ad in June 2024.

©️JNS