The IDF targeted Ali al-Amoudi, a senior Hamas leader and Yahya Sinwar’s successor, in a precision airstrike in Gaza City.
By Hezy Laing
Israel has taken aim at another senior Hamas leader in an operation that underscores the IDF’s continuing effort to dismantle the terrorist organization’s leadership in Gaza.
On October 3, the IDF and Shin Bet carried out an airstrike in Gaza City targeting Ali al-Amoudi, the most senior Hamas figure currently operating in the Gaza Strip and successor to the late Yahya Sinwar.
The results of the strike remain under investigation.
Al-Amoudi is not a newcomer to Hamas’s leadership. According to the IDF, he served as Sinwar’s right-hand man and personal aide and participated in decision-making surrounding the October 7, 2023, massacre.
He was also involved in the 1993 murder of four Israelis in Judea and Samaria and in the 1994 incident in Ramallah in which Shin Bet officer Noam-Menachem Cohen was killed during an operation.
Al-Amoudi was directly involved in rebuilding Hamas’s military capabilities and preparing the organization for renewed warfare.
The October 3 strike used precision munitions and was conducted from the air with measures intended to minimize civilian casualties.
The attempted elimination therefore represents more than another targeted strike.
It is part of a broader Israeli strategy of repeatedly removing Hamas commanders faster than the organization can rebuild its chain of command.
Compared with three years ago, Hamas is a far weaker military organization.
Before October 7, 2023, it possessed a large rocket arsenal, extensive tunnel infrastructure, a functioning military hierarchy and the ability to launch a massive cross-border assault.
Today, it has lost much of its senior leadership, commanders, fighters and rocket arsenal and is no longer assessed as capable of mounting an attack on the scale of October 7.
Yet Hamas has not disappeared: it remains the dominant armed actor in parts of Gaza and continues to operate through terror tactics.
Israeli forces now control roughly 63–65% of Gaza, further limiting Hamas’s freedom of movement and military capabilities.
The latest strike comes after a succession of Israeli operations that have eliminated Hamas’s senior military commanders.
Yahya Sinwar was killed on October 16, 2024, followed by his brother Mohammed Sinwar on May 13, 2025.
In May 2026, Israel killed Hamas military chief Izz al-Din al-Haddad and, less than two weeks later, his successor Mohammed Odeh.
Odeh had headed Hamas’s intelligence headquarters and helped plan and coordinate the October 7th massacre.
