A senior Hamas official has confirmed that Ali al-Amoudi, the acting head of the group's political bureau in Gaza, was wounded in an Israeli strike on a residential apartment in western Gaza City on Oct. 3 that killed five Palestinians. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat late Friday on condition of anonymity, the official said al-Amoudi suffered moderate injuries, including fractures to his limbs, in the attack on the apartment in Gaza City's port district. Al-Amoudi was inside the apartment when it was hit but survived because he was in a section away from the main impact, the official said. He declined to provide further details, saying only that al-Amoudi was in good health and receiving treatment at a secure location. The disclosure marks the first acknowledgment by a Hamas official that al-Amoudi was inside the apartment during the strike, contradicting accounts from several sources who told Asharq Al-Awsat in recent days that he had left the building before the attack. Those sources had also confirmed his survival. Narrow escape Three Hamas sources had told Asharq Al-Awsat days earlier that an urgent intelligence warning reached al-Amoudi about three hours before the strike, prompting him to leave the apartment. The report did not explicitly warn of an imminent operation targeting him personally, but the sources said he took it seriously and moved to a secure location. In separate but consistent accounts, the sources said the warning followed suspicious Israeli drone activity detected by two operatives from the air unit of the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing. On Oct. 2, the operatives spotted two Israeli intelligence drones repeatedly circling the building and the surrounding port district in western Gaza City. The aircraft were of a type known to Palestinian security agencies for their sophisticated surveillance capabilities, the sources said. According to the sources, the drones carried advanced intelligence-gathering systems, including artificial intelligence technology designed to help identify targets with precision. After tracking the aircraft for hours, the two operatives suspected an assassination operation against a senior figure in the area was being prepared. They alerted higher-ranking security officials, setting off a chain of warnings that eventually reached those responsible for protecting senior Hamas figures, including al-Amoudi. The sources said al-Amoudi's sole security aide, who knew his whereabouts, immediately went to warn him. Believing he could be the target, al-Amoudi decided to leave the apartment without delay. Roughly an hour or more later, the apartment was struck with guided missiles and one or two explosive-laden drones, according to the sources. The senior Hamas official who confirmed al-Amoudi's injuries would neither confirm nor deny those earlier accounts. He said Hamas commanders at various levels routinely receive intelligence reports from field operatives monitoring Israeli drone movements over Gaza. Such activity, he said, can signal possible assassination attempts or other operations in areas under surveillance. Asharq Al-Awsat sought clarification from its earlier sources after learning that al-Amoudi had been wounded and had remained inside the apartment until the strike. Two did not respond. A third said his information had come from an internal report but offered no further explanation. Hamas may have concealed details of al-Amoudi's injuries even from its own leaders and figures in other Palestinian factions as part of an intelligence campaign aimed at portraying Israeli strikes as failures and keeping Israeli security agencies uncertain. Some Israeli media reports have indicated that Israeli authorities are investigating why the operation failed. Key figure in Hamas' inner circle Al-Amoudi has emerged as a central figure in Hamas' leadership, known within the movement for his security background and strategic thinking. His rise through the ranks has accelerated in recent years, with a series of senior responsibilities entrusted to him since his release from Israeli imprisonment. He was a close associate of former Hamas leader Yahya al-Sinwar, a relationship forged during their years together in Israeli prisons and maintained after their release. Al-Amoudi was freed in 2011 in the prisoner exchange deal involving Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. A member of Hamas' political bureau, al-Amoudi headed the group's media department before the war. In December 2025, he became the acting head of its political bureau in Gaza after he and several other close associates of Sinwar were tasked with running the movement in the territory. Most of those appointed were based in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The arrangement, however, faced opposition from some Hamas leaders, who rejected the appointments and endorsements as an attempt to bypass the movement's internal rules. In the days and weeks before the assassination attempt, al-Amoudi had also contested an internal election to lead Hamas in Gaza against Nizar Awadallah. The vote failed to produce a decisive winner, leading to a runoff that was subsequently suspended following a challenge to the process. Al-Amoudi remains an influential figure in Hamas, both inside Gaza and beyond, with a significant role in shaping the movement's decisions.
