The target was Ali al-Amoudi. Right now he's believed to be the most senior Hamas political figure still alive in Gaza. He wasn't on the list of those reported killed.
That's everything we know.
Why this mattersSo here's the big question. Is Amoudi alive or not?
If he's dead, Hamas just lost the most senior political figure it has left in Gaza.
If he's alive, Israel just tried to kill him and missed. Either way, this is a major escalation.
Separately, the Israeli military says it opened fire with an attack helicopter and tanks this morning, at around 8am, at targets near the Yellow Line in Gaza. One Israeli outlet says that operation was aimed at Amoudi too. Nobody has confirmed whether that's the same strike, or a second one.
The Israeli military hasn't commented. It says it's still checking the results. Hamas hasn't said anything either.
Now, who actually is Amoudi?
He spent almost 20 years in an Israeli prison. He walked free in 2011, in the swap that released more than 1,000 Palestinians for the Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit. He'd been locked up with Yahya Sinwar. After he got out, he ran Sinwar's office. Later he led Hamas's media operation and spoke for the group in public.
And here's the thing. Everyone above him is dead.
Yahya Sinwar ran Hamas's political bureau. Israel killed him in Rafah two years ago. Mohammed Sinwar took the top job in Gaza next. Israel killed him in a bunker in Khan Yunis last year. Izz al-Din al-Haddad took over after that and ran Hamas's armed wing. Israel killed him earlier this year too.
So one Israeli outlet is calling Amoudi "Sinwar's successor" as Hamas's leader in Gaza. But that exact job has passed through three other men since Sinwar died, and Israel killed all three. Amoudi's actual documented role is chairman of Hamas's political bureau in Gaza, a political post, not that military leadership line. He's been in that job since around January, and he was already the frontrunner to take it on permanently, under Khalil al-Hayya, who was elected to run Hamas's political bureau overall a few months ago.
Either way you look at it, Amoudi is the most senior Hamas figure left standing in Gaza right now.
And Israel has spent two years working down that list, one name at a time.
Here's what's still not known. Whether Amoudi is alive. Who exactly the five people killed were. Whether the helicopter-and-tank operation and the building strike are the same event. And what Hamas does next.
