Netanyahu, Katz: Israel killed top Hamas official Sa’ad for rearming instead of demilitarizing

Sa’ad was also one of the few remaining living Hamas officials directly involved in planning the October 7 invasion and slaughter of around 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz on Saturday night said they had ordered the assassination of number two Hamas official Ra’ad Sa’ad earlier in the day due to his leadership over the group’s post-war rearmament activities.

In particular, they referred to an ambush of IDF soldiers using an improvised explosive device earlier in the day.

IDF sources also gave other specific examples of soldiers wounded by IEDs planted at Sa’ad’s direction in recent weeks.

Sa’ad was also one of the few remaining living Hamas officials directly involved in planning the October 7 invasion and slaughter of around 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians.

The Shin Bet and the IDF said they received intelligence in real-time that he was making a rare above-ground trip in the western part of Gaza City, and acted promptly to kill him before the opportunity was lost.

His killing raises the stakes between Israel and Hamas over both whether the ceasefire will be maintained and how Phase II of the ceasefire, regarding international parties taking over management of Gaza and making moves toward reducing Hamas’s arms, will play out.

Phase II of Gaza ceasefire on hold while Hamas violates agreement

Israel has consistently said that Hamas is violating Phase II of the ceasefire by continuing to rearm itself as opposed to being open to disarming, as well as by, to date, making many statements against handing over control over the Strip to international parties, as required under the ceasefire.

Hamas has said that it only agreed to third parties ensuring both sides observe the ceasefire, and not to give up all of its weapons.

It was unclear whether the US approved the attack, which has broader geopolitical ramifications because of Sa’ad’s high rank. This is especially true given that the assassination was not necessarily planned far in advance, even if he was a long-time potential target.

The only high-ranked Hamas official is its current chief, Az-al-din Al-Hadad, who took over after Mohammed Sinwar was killed in May.

Saad has been part of Hamas since at least the 1990s, serving time in Israeli prison during the 1990s, and then also serving time imprisoned by the Palestinian Authority.

He was close with Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, killed by Israel in 2004, and with top Hamas military leaders Mohammed Deif and Marwan Issa, both of whom were killed by Israel during the war in 2024.

At one point, Saad was the brigade commander for Gaza City, and at another point, he established Hamas’s naval commando unit.

Later, Saad joined Hamas’s high command, but in the years leading up to the war was actually demoted from the high command to a second-tier position due to a falling out with the Sinwar brothers’ wing, which had taken control of Hamas.

However, he was never far from the top, and after Mohammed Sinwar was killed, Saad became al-Hadad’s number two man for managing significant aspects of Hamas’s day-to-day operations.