00:20It has been less than one week since Hamas appointed its new military commander, and
00:26already, Israel has it in its crosshairs.
00:30In a strike on Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Forces targeted Mohamed Oday, the newly appointed
00:36chief of Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades.
00:41The strike was personally directed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister
00:47Israel Kotz.
00:48Whether Oday survived is still not confirmed, but the message from Israel was loud and clear.
00:55No matter how fast Hamas replaces its commanders, Israel will find them and it will go after
01:01them.
01:02Now here's why Mohamed Oday is not just another name on a target list.
01:08Oday was not a field commander.
01:10He was the head of Hamas intelligence during the October 7 massacre.
01:15The man in the room.
01:16The man reading the maps.
01:18The man coordinating the flow of information that made that attack the deadliest day for
01:24Jewish people since the Holocaust.
01:26He was the brain behind the operation, not just a soldier in it.
01:30And just one week ago, after Israel killed his predecessor, Ezzedine al-Haddad, in a strike
01:37earlier this month, Hamas elevated Oday to the top of their military structure.
01:42One week.
01:43That is all the time he had before Israel came for him, too.
01:48Netanyahu and Kotz said in a joint statement that Oday was directly responsible for the
01:54murder, abduction, and injury of numerous Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers.
02:00That is not bureaucratic language.
02:02That is Israel telling the world exactly why this man was targeted, and exactly what they
02:08believe he did.
02:09But zoom out for a moment, because this strike is part of something much larger.
02:15Since October 7, Israel has been running the most aggressive targeted killing campaign
02:21it has ever conducted.
02:22And the list of names it has crossed off is extraordinary.
02:27Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of October 7, killed.
02:32Muhammad Dief, the long-time commander of the Qassam Brigades, killed.
02:36Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of Hamas, killed.
02:42Ezzedine al-Haddad, Oday's predecessor as military commander, killed.
02:47Hassan Nasrallah, the chief of Hezbollah, killed.
02:51Israel has worked its way through the entire top tier of Hamas and its allied commanders,
02:57across Gaza, Lebanon, and beyond.
03:00And now, it is not even waiting for new appointments to settle in.
03:04Oday had been in the job for seven days when Israel struck.
03:08That is not a counter-terrorism operation anymore.
03:12That is a systematic dismantling, name by name, floor by floor, until the entire leadership
03:19structure either collapses or runs out of people willing to take the top job.
03:24Meanwhile, on the ground in Gaza, the Civil Defense Agency reported that at least three
03:30people were killed and 20 wounded in a separate Israeli airstrike in the Rimal neighborhood
03:35of western Gaza City.
03:37The human cost continues to mount.
03:40Gaza's health ministry puts the total death toll from Israel's retaliatory campaign at
03:46over 72,000.
03:48Israel says it lost 1,221 people on October 7th.
03:53Two numbers.
03:55Both staggering.
03:56Both part of a war that shows no sign of ending.
03:59And tonight, as Israel waits to confirm whether Muhammad Oday survived Tuesday's strike, one
04:06thing is already certain.
04:07If he did not, Hamas will appoint someone new, and Israel will come for them, too.
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