Mourners gathered in Gaza City on December 14 to pay their respects during the funeral of Raed Saed, a senior commander of Hamas, along with three of his aides, who were killed in an Israeli airstrike the day before. The funeral witnessed thousands of Hamas supporters demonstrating their allegiance, chanting “Martyrs are dear to God,” as they carried the caskets draped in green Hamas flags. This gathering marked one of the largest displays of Hamas’s presence since the implementation of a U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement in October.
Khalil al-Hayya, the chief negotiator for Hamas, residing in exile, addressed the crowd, emphasizing the gravity of the situation following Saed’s assassination. He stated that the continuing Israeli violations of the ceasefire, highlighted by this latest targeted killing, jeopardized the fragile truce. Al-Hayya called upon U.S. President Donald Trump to uphold the ceasefire terms and compel Israel to adhere to the agreement.
Saed was noted by Hamas sources as the second-in-command of the organization’s armed wing. He was reportedly a significant architect behind the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which triggered the current conflict. Following the death of Hamas leader Yehya Al-Sinwar in 2024, the group has operated under a five-member leadership council instead of appointing a new chief.
The ceasefire has resulted in Israeli forces maintaining control over the eastern half of Gaza, which has been largely depopulated, while Hamas has reestablished dominance over the west, where the majority of Gazans, exceeding two million people, reside amid the ruins of their homes and infrastructure.
Currently, there remains an impasse between the two sides regarding future steps. Israel insists that Hamas must disarm and be prevented from any future governance in Gaza, while Hamas refuses to relinquish its weapons and demands a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces.
An agreement has been proposed for a U.N.-authorized International Stabilization Force to help maintain peace in the region. Al-Hayya specified that the role of this force should be to demarcate the border between the two factions rather than operating within Gaza itself.
In a related incident in central Gaza, a senior officer of Hamas’s internal security, Ahmed Zamzam, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen. The Gaza Interior Ministry claimed the attackers were “collaborators acting upon Israeli orders.” One suspect has reportedly been apprehended, although no independent verification of the incident has been possible, and the Israeli military has not commented on the matter.
The international community continues to monitor the increasingly tense situation in Gaza, with a conference set to take place on December 16, organized by U.S. Central Command in Doha, to strategize the deployment of the proposed International Stabilization Force for Gaza.
