The Islamic Resistance Movement () confirmed last night the death of Raad Saad, head of the operations division of the , a day after the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced the airstrike in which he killed the number two of this militia.
“We mourn the loss of the great leader Raad Saad, Abu Muaz, one of the most prominent leaders of Al Qassam, along with several of his companions: Riad al Laban, Abdul Hay Zqout and Yahya al Kayali,” he said in a statement published by the newspaper. Palestine (and collected by ), in which he highlighted that the four “died faithful to their commitment” to the Palestinian people.
In particular, de Saad has highlighted his “more than 35 years” of experience within Hamas and “at the head of” its armed wing, “present in the fields of resistance, contributing to the construction and development of Al Qassam’s capabilities and reinforcing its qualitative strength.”
“Commander Raad Saad was not only a fighter on the battlefield and an outstanding military commander, but also a man of the Koran, a role model (…) and a defender of religious education circles, who created a pious generation in the Gaza Strip, a generation that embraced the verses of the Koran with a sincere readiness for sacrifice and surrender in the face of the criminal enemy,” Hamas added.
For their part, the Al Qassam Brigades have condemned the murder of Saad in a statement also released through the same statement, in which they have accused Israel of having “crossed all limits.” “He is ignoring the , and Trump and the mediators must take responsibility for these serious transgressions and this repeated aggression against our people, our resistance fighters and our leaders,” they added.
In the same note, they have defended their “right to respond (and) defend ourselves by all means” after the death of the military leader, who already has a replacement, although they have not specified who it is. “Today we announce that the leadership of Al Qassam has appointed a new commander to carry out the tasks carried out by our leader, the martyr Abu Muaz, and we affirm that our fight will not stop and that the assassination of our leaders will not weaken us, but will make us stronger, firmer and more determined to continue the path that they traced with their blood,” they declared.
Saad was hit by a projectile launched by the Israeli Army when he was traveling in a vehicle near the Nabulsi crossing, southwest of Gaza City, along with the other four victims.
The importance of the objective
In a statement last Saturday, the office said that “Saad was one of the architects of the October 7 massacre, and is currently involved in the reconstruction of the terrorist organization, planning and executing attacks against Israel and rebuilding an attack force, in flagrant violation of ceasefire rules and Hamas’ commitments to respect President Trump’s plan.”
Netanyahu also denounced that “instead of promoting demilitarization, he was involved in rearmament to carry out terrorist attacks.” The deceased commander was considered the right-hand man of the current leader of the Hamas militias in the Palestinian enclave, Izz al Din Haddad.
The Israeli leader also pointed out that the attack against Saad was carried out in retaliation for the explosion of a device that injured two Israeli soldiers on the Yellow Line of Gaza, which delimits the current positions of the Israeli Army in the enclave.
Since the ceasefire came into force in the Gaza Strip on October 11, a total of 391 people have died, a figure that rises to 70,663 taking into account the start of the Israeli military offensive on the Palestinian enclave on October 7, 2023.
