The Israeli military said it killed Raed Saad, a top Hamas commander, in a targeted strike on a car in Gaza on Saturday, marking the most high-profile assassination since the cease-fire two months ago.

Saad, a senior figure in Hamas’s Qassam Brigades, helped plan the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that triggered the two-year conflict.

Four people were killed in the strike, though Hamas has not confirmed Saad’s death, calling the attack a “criminal breach of the cease-fire.”

The assassination could further strain the fragile truce brokered in October, which freed hostages and exchanged prisoners, but has not fully halted violence in Gaza, the New York Times has reported.

Analysts say Saad’s killing is a symbolic and practical blow to Hamas, but the group remains capable and motivated to maintain control over Gaza.