Hamas Military-Wing Leader Al-Haddad Killed in Gaza Strike
An Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Friday killed Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the leader of Hamas’s military wing and “one of the last surviving architects” of the 7 October 2023 attacks, the Israeli military said on Saturday; Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem confirmed the killing on social media, the Associated Press reported. Israel said al-Haddad had assumed command of the Hamas military council after the killing of his predecessor Mohammed Sinwar. The 7 October attacks killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel and saw more than 250 taken hostage.
The Palestinian Mujahideen Movement said in a joint statement with its military wing that the “cowardly assassination” will not “weaken the resolve” of the resistance group. Al-Haddad was 55 and headed the five-member military council that commands the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. The strike on a residential building and a car in the Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City killed at least seven people, including three women and a child, with dozens injured. The Gaza ceasefire remains fragile: more than 850 people have been killed in the territory since the October ceasefire took effect, with the top diplomat overseeing it saying it has “stalled” over the deadlock on Hamas disarmament.