Since the October 7, 2023 massacre and the war that followed, Israel has been methodically hunting the men who planned and executed that attack — and this week saw multiple confirmed kills in a short span.

Who Got Killed and When

The week's highest-profile elimination was Mohammed Odeh, head of Hamas's military wing and a key figure in the October 7 intelligence operation. The IDF and Shin Bet struck him Tuesday, according to the Baltimore Jewish Times. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed the kill Wednesday on X, writing Odeh was "sent to meet his partners in the depths of hell." Odeh had only been appointed to lead the military wing roughly a week earlier — he replaced Izz al-Din al-Haddad, who was killed in a separate Israeli strike on May 15. Hamas went through two military wing chiefs in under a month.

Also Tuesday: the IDF and Shin Bet killed Sakr Abu Karim, a Hamas Nukhba cell commander who helped lead the infiltration into the Kissufim area on October 7. According to a joint IDF-Shin Bet statement reported by the Jerusalem Post and JNS on June 7, Abu Karim had been actively violating the ceasefire — stockpiling weapons at his home and running terrorist training sessions aimed at rebuilding Hamas attack capacity. A Hamas communications operative died in the same strike.

On Thursday, the IDF and Shin Bet announced they had killed Hassan Rabah Hassan Labad, Deputy Head of Hamas's General Security Apparatus — the secretive unit that protects and coordinates Hamas leadership. Three additional senior Apparatus officials also died: Asim Amin Shalash Shubair, Abdullah Ata Younes Abu Kaloub, and Muhammad Naaman Zaki Abu Mark, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Overnight Friday into Saturday, a second strike killed Muhanad Othman Yassin Farwana, a Hamas military wing commander in southern Gaza who had been advancing active attack plans against both IDF troops and Israeli civilians, per IDF statements cited by the NY Post and JNS. The IDF said they used precise munitions and aerial surveillance and took steps to reduce civilian risk before the strike.

What the IDF Is Actually Saying

Israel's stated position is straightforward: these men were NOT passive figures sitting out the war. The joint IDF-Shin Bet statements on Abu Karim and Farwana describe ongoing operational activity — weapons caching, attack planning, terrorist training — that constituted active ceasefire violations. The IDF says Southern Command forces remain deployed under the ceasefire framework but will continue striking immediate threats.

Israel is not claiming a blank check to bomb whoever it wants. It's claiming these were men caught in the act of rebuilding Hamas's offensive capacity. That's a legally and operationally different argument than simple retaliation.

What Mainstream Coverage Is Getting Wrong

Most Western outlets covering Israeli operations this week led with the humanitarian angle — the 7-month-old killed in the West Bank, the Lebanese army officers killed in a separate strike, French diplomatic fallout over the Israeli ambassador's comments. All legitimate stories, covered here previously.

The Hamas leadership kills got comparatively light treatment outside Israeli and Jewish media. The elimination of a sitting Hamas military wing chief — a man appointed literally days before he was killed — is a significant military intelligence story. The speed of that kill (Haddad gone May 15, Odeh appointed, Odeh dead by early June) suggests Israeli intelligence has deep penetration into Hamas's command structure right now. This detail has received minimal coverage in mainstream Western outlets.

The General Security Apparatus kills on Thursday also merit closer attention. That unit exists specifically to protect Hamas's top leadership. Its deputy head being eliminated alongside three senior officials degrades Hamas's ability to shield whoever is next in command.

The Ceasefire Question Nobody Wants to Answer

Israel is simultaneously accused of violating ceasefire terms (in Lebanon, in the West Bank) AND citing ceasefire violations by Hamas as justification for these Gaza strikes.

Both things can be true. Abu Karim was documented stockpiling weapons and running training operations in violation of ceasefire terms. That's Israel's stated basis for the strike. The IDF isn't wrong to say that a ceasefire doesn't mean Hamas gets to rearm unmolested.

Israel's behavior in Lebanon — killing a Lebanese army brigadier general and two soldiers in a separate strike last week — undercuts its credibility when it invokes ceasefire language as justification. You don't get to selectively honor ceasefires and then cite them as your legal cover.

Accurate coverage requires acknowledging both facts, not picking one to ignore.

What This Means

Hamas has now lost its military wing chief twice in three weeks. Its General Security Apparatus — the unit built to keep leadership alive — just lost its deputy head and three senior officials. Its Nukhba commanders who physically led the October 7 attacks are being killed off one by one.

For Israelis still waiting on over 100 hostages, this carries strategic weight. Degrading Hamas command doesn't guarantee the hostages come home safe. The systematic elimination of October 7 planners is exactly what Israel said it would do — and this week, it did it.