Senior Hamas commander Raed Saed killed in Gaza strike, Israeli media say

Israel killed senior Hamas commander Raed Saed in a strike on Gaza on Saturday, several Israeli media outlets reported, citing sources.

The Israeli military struck a car in Gaza City carrying Saed, one of the architects of the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, according to an Israeli defence official and Israeli media. The strike killed four people, the Gaza health authorities had earlier said.

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The Israeli military said it had targeted a senior Hamas commander in Gaza City, without given a name or further details. This is the highest-profile assassination of a senior Hamas figure since a ceasefire deal came into effect in October.

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The Israeli defence official described Saed as the head of Hamas' weapon manufacturing force.

Hamas sources have also described him as the second-in-command of the group's armed wing, after Izz eldeen Al-Hadad.

Saed used to head Hamas' Gaza City battalion, one of the group's largest and best-equipped, those sources said.

The war in Gaza began after Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and seized 251 hostages in an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 70,700 Palestinians, most of them civilians, health officials in Gaza say.

The October 10 ceasefire has enabled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to Gaza City's ruins. Israel has pulled troops back from city positions, and aid flows have increased.

But violence has not completely halted. Palestinian health authorities say Israeli forces have killed at least 386 people in strikes in Gaza since the truce. Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire began, and it has attacked scores of fighters.