Israel struck a vehicle in Gaza on Saturday, killing a senior Hamas commander, according to the Israeli military. In a formal statement, the IDF described the strike as targeting a “key Hamas terrorist” in Gaza City. Hamas’s Civil Defence spokesman, Mahmoud Basal, told the BBC that four people died and several bystanders were injured by the blast. Local sources identified the likely target as Raed Saad, a high-ranking leader within Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades.
The BBC reports it cannot verify details from within Gaza due to restrictions on independent reporting by Israel. Saad is believed to be part of a recently formed five-member leadership military council that has existed since a ceasefire took hold in October. He is regarded among the most prominent Qassam commanders and led multiple brigades during Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities east of Gaza City on 7 October.
Israel has long sought Saad's elimination, with one high-profile operation in March 2024 during which forces aimed to arrest or kill him; reports at the time indicated he escaped just before the raid concluded. Saad has been described as one of Israel’s most-wanted Hamas figures, with decades of attempts to remove him from the battlefield.
The Saturday strike occurred on the Palestinian-controlled side of what is known as the Yellow Line, a dividing frontier that has separated Gaza since a fragile, U.S.-led ceasefire began on 10 October. Israeli forces control the area east of the line, which encompasses roughly half of the Gaza Strip.
In broader context, Trump’s 20-point peace plan originally called for the return of all hostages taken during Hamas’s 7 October 2023 assault on southern Israel. About 1,200 people were killed, and more than 250 were seized; all have been released except for the remains of Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old Israeli police officer presumed killed by Hamas in Kibbutz Alumim.
Since then, Gaza’s health ministry, run by Hamas, has reported more than 70,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli military action. The diplomatic conversation has since shifted to the next phase of President Trump’s framework, which envisions Hamas disarmament as part of a broader process of deradicalization and reconstruction for Gaza. The plan envisions a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee temporarily governing Gaza, under a “Board of Peace” chaired by Trump, with security provided by an International Stabilisation Force, though the exact composition remains unclear.
The ultimate objective, according to the plan, is to enable a reformed Palestinian Authority to assume control of the territory and for Israeli forces to withdraw, thereby creating conditions for a credible path to Palestinian self-determination and statehood. Many aspects of the plan are controversial in Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state. Trump is scheduled to meet Netanyahu in the United States on 29 December to discuss the plan further.
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