Israeli Airstrike Kills Hamas Military Wing Leader Izz Al-Din Al-Haddad in Gaza

An Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip killed Izz al-Din al-Haddad, Hamas’ military wing leader and an alleged Oct. 7 mastermind, Israel’s military said Saturday, and Hamas confirmed the death.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the strike killed his wife, daughter and others, and that Israel described him as one of the senior Hamas military commanders who directed the planning and execution of the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel and resulted in 251 others taken hostage.

Al Jazeera

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remains fragile, and the Los Angeles Times said Gaza has seen near-daily Israeli fire with more than 850 people killed in the Palestinian territory since the ceasefire went into effect in October, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

In the West Bank, Israeli troops killed a 34-year-old Palestinian in the Jenin refugee camp, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, and the Los Angeles Times said the Israeli military reported that troops first fired warning shots at a person trying to infiltrate the camp and shot him when he didn’t comply.

The Los Angeles Times added that the ministry is part of Gaza’s Hamas-run government, but staffed by medical professionals who maintain and publish detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community, while the ministry says Israel’s retaliatory strikes since the Oct. 7 attack have killed more than 72,700 people overall.

In the Jenin refugee camp, the Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the victim as 34-year-old Nour Al-Din Fayad, and Press TV said Israeli soldiers opened fire after he tried to enter the camp before he was shot dead.

Press TV reported that the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said medics transported a man from inside Jenin camp to the hospital after he was shot in the thigh and was “not breathing and had no pulse.”

Al Jazeera

Middle East Eye similarly said the Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the victim as 34-year-old Nour al-Din Fayyad and said he was killed by Israeli live fire during the operation earlier on Friday.

The Los Angeles Times described a different sequence in the same Jenin incident, saying Israeli troops shot and killed a 34-year-old Palestinian in the Jenin refugee camp and that the Israeli military said troops first fired warning shots at a person trying to infiltrate the camp and shot him when he didn’t comply.

While Press TV framed the broader context as a sharp rise in raids and attacks in the West Bank, it also gave a cumulative figure, saying Fayad’s death brings the death toll from the Israeli aggression against Jenin city and its refugee camp to 65 since January 21, 2025.

The Los Angeles Times said Israel’s army chief of staff called the killing of al-Haddad a significant operation and said that Israel would continue pursuing its enemies to hold them accountable, as Gaza endures almost daily attacks despite the ceasefire.

“Israeli forces killed a Palestinian in a targeted attack on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Ministry of Health says, as the army also storms homes amid settler attacks”

Al Jazeera

In the West Bank, Al Jazeera reported that the Israeli military claimed that troops fired after he tried to “infiltrate” the Jenin camp area, wherein “the soldiers are operating, and the entry is prohibited.”

Al Jazeera also reported that a senior UN official condemned an arson attack against a mosque and several vehicles in the village of Jibiya, and quoted Ramiz Alakbarov saying, “Attacks against religious sites and civilian property are unacceptable and undermine stability, human dignity, and freedom of worship,”.

Al Jazeera added that Alakbarov called for accountability, saying, “I call for an immediate and transparent investigation, and for all perpetrators to be held accountable,” as it described intensifying attacks in the occupied West Bank that continue to endanger civilians and damage their property.

Across the same period, the Los Angeles Times said Gaza’s Health Ministry records show more than 850 people killed in the Palestinian territory since the ceasefire went into effect in October, while the ministry says Israel’s retaliatory strikes since the Oct. 7 attack have killed more than 72,700 people overall.