Hamas struggles to fill leadership ranks as Israel hunts Oct 7 terrorists
Just before celebrations for Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim holiday, began in Gaza, an Israeli airstrike hit a building in Gaza City, killing Mohammed Odeh, the newly appointed head of Hamas’ military wing, according to Israeli officials and later confirmed by Hamas.
Reports from regional media said members of Odeh’s family were also killed in the strike. Two hours later, Gaza’s markets were full.
Fox News Digital reviewed video filmed in Gaza showing crowded Eid streets, children shopping and families gathering, with little visible reaction to the killing of the Hamas commander Israel described as one of the architects of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.
The contrast underscored what many Gazans and analysts describe as a growing disconnect between Hamas leaders and civilians exhausted by nearly three years of war, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry — figures that do not distinguish between civilians and combatants — and displaced most of Gaza’s population.
ISRAEL ANNOUNCES IT KILLED ONE OF THE ARCHITECTS OF THE OCT. 7 ATTACKS
Hadeel Oueis, editor-in-chief of Jusoor News, told Fox News Digital the assassinations are creating "a clear vacuum" inside Hamas and weakening coordination between leaders in Gaza and abroad.
"With the deaths of its leaders and the collapse of strong centralized command, Hamas is turning into a smaller militia competing with other armed groups operating in Gaza," Oueis said. "Hamas is now fighting for survival."
In a joint statement issued Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said Odeh, who had replaced senior commander Izz al-Din al-Haddad only days earlier, was "one of the architects of the October 7 massacre."
"Sooner or later, Israel will reach all of them," Netanyahu and Katz said.
Inside Gaza, several residents interviewed by Jusoor News said they no longer viewed the deaths of Hamas leaders as personal losses.
"Of course we didn’t feel anything when Haddad, Sinwar, or others were killed," one Gazan activist and former political prisoner told Jusoor News in an on-camera interview, speaking with his face blurred for safety reasons.
The activist was referring to Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the Hamas military commander Israel said it killed earlier in May, and Yahya Sinwar, the former Hamas leader and chief architect of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, who was killed by Israeli forces in southern Gaza in October 2024.
"Ordinary people are the ones who paid the price, not the leaders who made reckless decisions without thinking," the activist said.
"As a result, Gaza today is almost completely destroyed," the activist said. "There are families who have lost everything, while the remaining leaders abroad and inside continue to gamble with our lives constantly."
GRASSROOTS PUSH FOR FREEDOM GROWS IN GAZA AS HAMAS TIGHTENS ITS DEADLY GRIP
A Gaza-based journalist echoed the frustration.
"When we heard about the killing of Izz al-Din Haddad or others, we were not affected," the journalist said. "What is even more painful is that the children of the leaders live outside Gaza, in Turkey and Qatar, driving luxury cars and living comfortable lives, while people here have almost gone back to the Stone Age."
Another Gaza journalist and human rights advocate told Jusoor Hamas had harmed Palestinians as much as Israelis.
"I do not see the deaths of the leaders as losses for the Palestinians, because we ordinary people are the ones who paid the price," the advocate said. "Honestly, Hamas did not only hurt the Israelis — they hurt us as well."
At the same time, Israeli analysts caution that the repeated assassinations do not necessarily mean Hamas is close to collapse.
Michael Milshtein, an expert on the Palestinian arena, told Fox News Digital that Hamas unquestionably has suffered severe damage since Oct. 7, 2023, particularly with the deaths of veteran commanders who helped build the organization’s military structure and doctrine.
ISRAEL, HAMAS CEASE-FIRE DEAL COULD ENABLE REARMING OF GAZA TERRORISTS
"Almost nobody remains from the core group that planned and led the October 7 attack," he said.
But he noted that Odeh himself had been viewed largely as a second-tier figure before the war rather than an obvious successor to Hamas’ historic military leadership.
"The people replacing them are far less experienced, less capable and far less charismatic," Milshtein said.
Still, he argued, Hamas continues to maintain functioning chains of command and ideological cohesion despite the losses.
"People know they are likely going to die, and they still compete for these leadership positions," he said.
The debate over Hamas’ future comes as international efforts to shape a postwar political framework for Gaza accelerate.
Nickolay Mladenov, who was appointed High Representative for Gaza under the Board of Peace initiative, published the core elements of a proposed 15-point "Roadmap to Complete the Implementation of President Trump’s Gaza Comprehensive Peace Plan."
The proposal includes a phased Hamas disarmament process, internationally supervised security reforms and the establishment of "one authority, one law, one weapon" inside Gaza.
"Gaza cannot recover while armed groups simultaneously operate as governing authorities," Mladenov wrote while outlining the proposal on social media.
For many Gazans exhausted by years of war, displacement and destruction, the deaths of Hamas leaders now appear to carry less emotional weight than the hope that the conflict itself could finally end.
"Gaza cannot remain hostage to the idea of permanent war while civilians alone pay the entire price," one activist said.