Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad said overnight Sunday that Ali al-Amoudi, one of the terrorist group’s most senior remaining figures in the Gaza Strip and widely seen as a potential successor to Yahya Sinwar, survived an Israeli attempt to assassinate him over the weekend.
“The reports reaching us confirm that Ali al-Amoudi survived the Israeli assassination attempt,” Hamad told Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya.
Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad
Hamad accused Israel of violating the Gaza ceasefire agreement by continuing its policy of targeted killings. “The Israeli assassinations are putting the Gaza agreement at risk of collapse,” he said.
He also placed responsibility on Washington, saying: “The United States is responsible for saving the Gaza agreement and must pressure Israel to stop the assassinations.”
On Saturday, the Israeli Air Force struck a building in western Gaza City in an attempt to kill al-Amoudi. Palestinians reported that five people were killed in the strike and others were wounded. In the hours after the attack, Hamas sources were already quoted as expressing doubt that al-Amoudi had been killed.
Al-Amoudi is a member of Hamas’ political bureau and one of the group’s most senior figures still in Gaza. He was closely associated with Sinwar and previously served as director of his office. His standing has risen in recent years following the killing of numerous senior Hamas leaders.
He is currently competing with Nizar Awadallah for leadership of Hamas’ political bureau in the Gaza Strip.
Al-Amoudi was arrested by Israel in 1994, sentenced to life imprisonment and released in 2011 as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, which also freed Sinwar.
Following the strike, the IDF described al-Amoudi as Sinwar’s “right-hand man” and said he had been involved in planning the Oct. 7 attack.