Israeli assessments indicated that an attempt to assassinate senior Hamas figure Ali al-Amoudi in an airstrike on Gaza City likely failed, Israeli Army Radio said Saturday evening.
“Assessments are leaning toward the failure of the attempt to assassinate Ali al-Amoudi, a prominent leader in Hamas’ political wing in Gaza, last night,” according to the radio.
Israel’s Channel 12 said it was too early to reach a definitive conclusion but Israel was struggling to obtain confirmation that the assassination attempt had succeeded despite the hours that had elapsed.
Earlier Saturday, Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported that the Israeli army had attempted to kill al-Amoudi in a strike overnight Friday into Saturday. It described him as Hamas’ de facto leader in Gaza and a leading candidate to formally head the movement in the territory in anticipated secret internal elections.
Read: Hamas commander killed in Israeli strike
The broadcaster said reports from Gaza indicated that five people had been killed but al-Amoudi’s name was absent from the list of fatalities. His fate remained unclear.
Hamas sources told Anadolu that al-Amoudi headed the movement’s media department and was a member of its political bureau before the war began on October 8, 2023.
Following the killings of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his deputy Rawhi Mushtaha in 2024, al-Amoudi became deputy to Khalil al-Hayya, who was then heading the movement in Gaza, the sources said.
After al-Hayya was elected head of Hamas’ political bureau in July 2026, al-Amoudi assumed responsibility for running the movement in Gaza as acting leader pending the election of a successor, they added.
Five Palestinians, including four women, two of them Christians, were killed and six others injured early Saturday in an Israeli airstrike on a residential apartment in western Gaza City, according to a medical source.
The source identified those killed as Maysa Abu Daoud, 55, her daughter Maria Abu Daoud, 36, Yasmin al-Boubou, 48, Halloum al-Boubou, 23, and Bilal Ali Ouda, 20.
Read More: Israeli whistleblowers detail Gaza civilian toll
The strike came amid continuing Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement in effect since October 10, 2025.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said Israeli violations had killed 1,439 Palestinians and injured 5,052 others as of Thursday.
According to Palestinian figures, Israel has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians and injured over 175,000 in Gaza since October 8, 2023, while around 90% of the territory’s infrastructure has been destroyed.
