Israel has killed two senior Hamas military leaders within the past two weeks, including the head of the group's military wing and his replacement. The men, identified as Mohammed Odeh and Izz al-Din al-Haddad, were key architects of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the current war in Gaza. Israeli officials say the killings are part of broader efforts to target those responsible for the attack.
However, analysts argue that targeted killings, while tactically significant, rarely address the underlying grievances driving the conflict. Nasser Khdour of the nonprofit ACLED noted that the killings demonstrate Israel's operational reach but are unlikely to push Hamas toward disarmament or acceptance of a reduced role in Gaza. History shows that militant groups often endure and even grow stronger after losing top leaders.
Hezbollah, for example, expanded after the 1992 killing of its leader Abbas Musawi, and Hamas has continued operations despite the deaths of founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and other senior figures. The United States' targeted killings of Osama bin Laden and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi only succeeded after years of ground wars. Yossi Kuperwasser, former head of Israel's military intelligence research division, described targeted killings as an effective but limited tool that weakens enemies without dramatically altering their capabilities.
Critics warn that such operations can backfire. Political scientist Max Abrahms noted that violence against civilians often spikes after targeted killings, as more extreme successors take over or slain leaders become martyrs. Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center stressed that decapitation strategies require a coherent political follow-through to be effective, which remains unclear in the current conflict.
