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An Israeli airstrike on Gaza has killed the chief of Hamas’ military wing, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, in Gaza City on Friday.
The Israeli military disclosed the news on Saturday that the most senior official from the Palestinian militant group was killed by Israel since a U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement in October that was meant to stop fighting. They described the incident as a precise strike. Israel has repeatedly carried out strikes on Gaza since the ceasefire started.
Following the death of the chief of Hamas’s military wing, Hamas confirmed in a statement that Haddad, who was born in 1970, was killed along with his wife and daughter. It described him as a central figure in directing combat operations.
At Al Aqsa Martyrs Mosque in central Gaza, a joint funeral was held on Saturday for Haddad, his wife and their 19-year-old daughter.
Still on Friday, Israel carried out at least two attacks on Gaza, killing seven Palestinians, including three women and one child, according to local medics. A Palestinian source said Haddad was killed in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building.
On Saturday, two separate Israeli airstrikes killed at least three people, health officials said. Medics said two men were killed in a strike that targeted a vehicle near Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, while another person was killed in Jabalia refugee camp, in the north of the enclave. The Israeli military didn’t comment on any of the incidents.
According to figures that do not distinguish between combatants and civilians, some 850 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the October ceasefire. Four Israeli soldiers were killed by militants during the same period. Hamas does not disclose figures for casualties among its fighters.
In a joint statement with its defence minister on Friday, announcing the military had targeted Haddad, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Haddad was an architect of the October 7, 2023, attacks that triggered Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Haddad, who became the group’s military chief in Gaza after Israel’s killing of Mohammad Sinwar in May 2025, “was responsible for the murder, abduction, and harm inflicted on thousands of Israeli civilians (and) soldiers,” they said.
He was nicknamed “the Ghost”; he had survived multiple assassination attempts by Israel, according to Hamas sources. Israel’s military said he was one of Hamas’ longest-serving commanders, who rose through the ranks from the group’s early formation in the 1980s to hold several senior positions.
