By Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO, May 16 (Reuters) - An Israeli airstrike on Gaza killed the chief of Hamas’ military wing, the most senior official from the Palestinian militant group killed by Israel since a U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement in October that was meant to halt fighting.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that Izz al-Din al-Haddad was killed in what it described as a precise strike on Gaza City on Friday. Israel has repeatedly carried out strikes on Gaza since the ceasefire started.
Hamas confirmed in a later 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.
Israel carried out at least two attacks on Gaza on Friday, killing seven Palestinians, including three women and one child, according to local medics. A Palestinian source said Haddad was killed in an Israeli strike 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 immediately comment on either of the incidents.
CASUALTIES MOUNT DESPITE CEASEFIRE
Some 850 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the October ceasefire, according to figures that do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. 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 his 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 precipitated 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.
Nicknamed “the Ghost”, Haddad had survived multiple assassination attempts by Israel, according to Hamas sources. Israel’s military says that he was one of Hamas’ longest-serving commanders, rising through the ranks from the group’s early establishment in the 1980s to hold several senior positions.
Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked in indirect talks to advance U.S. President Donald Trump’s post-war plan for Gaza that is meant to end more than two years of fighting.
Israel has stepped up attacks in Gaza in the weeks since halting its joint bombing with the U.S. in Iran, redirecting its fire back on the devastated Palestinian territory where the military says Hamas fighters are tightening their grip.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Alexander Cornwell; writing by Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Louise Heavens and Cynthia Osterman)
