An Israeli airstrike in Gaza resulted in the death of the head of Hamas’s military branch, marking the highest-ranking Hamas official killed by Israeli forces since a ceasefire agreement backed by the U.S. was established in October to cease hostilities.
On Saturday, the Israeli military announced that Izz al-Din al-Haddad was killed in what they characterized as a targeted strike in Gaza City on Friday. Since the onset of the ceasefire, Israel has conducted numerous airstrikes in Gaza.
Hamas later confirmed in a statement that Haddad, born in 1970, lost his life alongside his wife and daughter. The group described him as a key figure in overseeing military operations and accused Israel of attempting to achieve political objectives through targeted killings that it could not accomplish through military means.
A joint funeral for Haddad, his wife, and his 19-year-old daughter was held on Saturday at Al-Aqsa Martyrs mosque in central Gaza.
According to local medical sources, Israeli forces conducted at least two strikes on Gaza on Friday, resulting in the deaths of seven Palestinians, including three women and a child. It was reported that Haddad was killed during an Israeli assault on an apartment complex.
Mourners carry the bodies identified as Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the commander of Hamas’s military wing, along with his wife and daughter, during their funeral in Gaza City on Saturday. They are believed to have died in an Israeli airstrike on Friday, (Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)
Since the ceasefire in October, Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that approximately 850 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes. During the same timeframe, Israeli authorities state that four soldiers were killed by militants. Hamas does not release casualty figures for its fighters.
In a joint statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz indicated that Haddad, who led the Al-Qassam Brigades, was a key planner behind the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas militants that sparked Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza.
Haddad, who took over as the military chief in Gaza following the Israeli killing of Mohammad Sinwar in May 2025, “was accountable for the murder, abduction, and suffering inflicted on thousands of Israeli civilians [and] soldiers,” they stated.
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Known by the nickname “the Ghost,” Haddad reportedly survived numerous assassination attempts by Israeli forces, according to sources within Hamas. Israel’s military claimed he was among the longest-serving commanders of Hamas, having advanced through the ranks since the group’s inception in the 1980s to hold various high-level positions.
Currently, Israel and Hamas find themselves in a stalemate regarding indirect negotiations to further U.S. President Donald Trump’s postwar strategy for Gaza, aimed at ending over two years of conflict.
In recent weeks, Israel has intensified its military actions in Gaza following the cessation of its coordinated bombings with the U.S. against Iran, redirecting its focus back to the devastated Palestinian territory where the military claims Hamas fighters are consolidating their control.