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

An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the leader of Hamas’ military wing, on Friday, with Israel’s military saying he was one of the last surviving architects of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that triggered the war in late 2023.

“In a joint statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said they had ordered the liquidation of al-Haddad, the commander of Hamas's armed wing and 'one of the architects of the Oct”

Agenzia Nova

AP reported that Israel’s army said the attacks killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel and saw more than 250 taken hostage, and that Hamas confirmed the death.

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Reuters said the strike was carried out as a “precise strike” on Gaza City on Friday, and Hamas later confirmed Haddad’s death along with his wife and daughter.

Reuters also reported that Israel carried out at least two attacks on Gaza on Friday, killing seven Palestinians, including three women and one child, according to local medics, while Israel’s military did not immediately comment on those incidents.

Hamas condemned Israel’s strike as a “treacherous and cowardly assassination,” and said al-Haddad was killed along with his wife, his daughter, and other Palestinian civilians on Friday evening.

CNN reported that after the announcement, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir vowed to “continue to pursue our enemies, strike them and hold accountable everyone who took part in the October 7th massacre.”

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The AP account said the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remains fragile and that the top diplomat overseeing it says it has stalled because of the deadlock over disarming Hamas, while both sides have traded accusations of violations.

Reuters reported that 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, and that Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked in indirect talks to advance U.S. President Donald Trump’s post-war plan for Gaza.

Israel said al-Haddad had assumed the role of Hamas commander after his predecessor, Mohammed Sinwar, was killed, and the army said al-Haddad had surrounded himself with Israeli hostages during the war as a shield against an attack.

AP reported that al-Haddad’s family confirmed his death in Friday’s strike to The Associated Press, and that six other people, including his wife and daughter, were also killed, with his two sons killed earlier in the war.

CNN said Israel accused al-Haddad of refusing “to implement the agreement led by US President (Donald) Trump for Hamas to disarm and for the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip,” and it described the strikes as targeting a residential building in the al-Rimal neighborhood near Gaza City before a second strike targeted a car on a nearby street.

AP added that 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, while the ministry overall says Israel’s retaliatory strikes have killed more than 72,700 people.