Palestinians pray during the funeral of Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades operatives, whose bodies are draped in the group's flag, killed in an Israeli strike Saturday, in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians carry the body of a Hamas militant draped in the group's flag, who was killed in an Israeli army strike, during his funeral in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
JERUSALEM (AP) — Hamas on Sunday confirmed the death of a top commander in Gaza, a day after Israel said it had killed Raed Saad in a strike outside Gaza City.
The Hamas statement described Saad as the commander of its military manufacturing unit. Israel had described him as an architect of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war in Gaza, and asserted that he had been “engaged in rebuilding the terrorist organization†in a violation of the ceasefire that took effect two months ago.
Israel said it killed Saad after an explosive device detonated and wounded two soldiers in the territory’s south.
Hamas also said it had named a new commander but did not give details.
Saturday's strike west of Gaza City killed four people, according to an Associated Press journalist who saw their bodies arrive at Shifa Hospital. Another three were wounded, according to Al-Awda hospital. Hamas in its initial statement described the vehicle struck as a civilian one.
Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of truce violations.
Israeli airstrikes and shootings in Gaza have killed at least 391 Palestinians since the ceasefire took hold, according to Palestinian health officials. Israel has said recent strikes are in retaliation for militant , and that troops have fired on Palestinians who approached the “Yellow Line†between the Israeli-controlled majority of Gaza and the rest of the territory.
Israel has demanded that Palestinian militants return the remains of the final hostage, Ran Gvili, from Gaza and called it a condition of moving to the of the ceasefire. That lays out a vision for and seeing the rebuilding of a demilitarized Gaza under international supervision.
The initial Hamas-led 2023 attack on southern Israel killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Almost all hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel’s two-year , roughly half of them women and children, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its count. The ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.
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Find more of AP’s Israel-Hamas coverage at
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