Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Israel has intensified its military operations in the Gaza Strip, carrying out fresh airstrikes in the south as new details emerged about the killing of senior Hamas military commander Raed Saad, even as domestic protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government continued to spread across Israel.
Israel informed the United States of Saad’s assassination roughly 20 minutes after the operation was carried out, a move described as risky given the potential repercussions for the fragile ceasefire in Gaza and broader relations with Washington. Saad was a senior figure in Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and Israel has accused him of being one of the key planners behind the October 7 “Al-Aqsa Flood” attack.
Field escalation remains intense, with Israeli forces launching strikes inside areas along the so-called “yellow line” under Israeli control. Airstrikes have targeted eastern Khan Younis and the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, following the attack that killed Saad a day earlier.
In a joint statement, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said they had ordered the assassination in response to a roadside bomb attack that targeted Israeli army forces in southern Gaza, an incident that, according to the statement, injured two Israeli soldiers in areas under Israeli military control.
Meanwhile, Palestinian medical sources reported that at least four Palestinians were killed and more than 25 others wounded, some critically, after an Israeli drone strike hit a civilian car traveling along Al-Rashid coastal road southwest of Gaza City. The attack added to mounting civilian casualties as fighting and airstrikes continue across the enclave.
The military escalation has coincided with growing political unrest inside Israel. Protests erupted in several cities, with demonstrators demanding the establishment of an official commission of inquiry into what they describe as the “failures of October 7.” In Jerusalem, protesters gathered outside the residence of President Isaac Herzog, calling for Netanyahu not to be granted any form of pardon.
Similar demonstrations took place in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Beersheba, where participants included families of Israelis killed or previously held captive. Protesters stressed the need for accountability and warned against closing the file on the events surrounding the October 7 attack without a full investigation.
As airstrikes continue in Gaza and tensions rise both regionally and domestically, the killing of Raed Saad and Israel’s handling of its aftermath appear to have added further strain to an already volatile ceasefire process, while deepening political divisions within Israel itself.
