On Saturday, Israeli occupation forces launched an airstrike on a residential building in the Al-Rimal neighborhood, west of Gaza City, killing seven Palestinians and wounding several others, including children, in a new escalation in the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Army Radio reported that the attack targeted the assassination of Abu Obeida, the spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. However, reports close to the movement denied his presence at the targeted site.

This targeting is part of a series of Israeli attempts to eliminate Palestinian resistance leaders, in the context of a war that, according to Hamas, has taken on a genocidal character and aims to empty Gaza City of its residents.

The movement affirmed, in a statement, that"the criminal raid that targeted a building inhabited by civilians and displaced persons represents a brutal escalation in the targeting of innocents and a full-fledged war crime, committed in full view of the international community."

While the Qassam Brigades did not issue a direct comment on the assassination attempt on Abu Obeida, media sources close to the movement confirmed that the military spokesman was not at the targeted location, emphasizing that such attempts will not undermine the resistance's resolve or halt what they described as"the path of jihad against the occupation."