Israel announced today that it had conducted an airstrike in Gaza targeting Izz al-Din al-Haddad, Hamas’ most senior military commander in the Gaza Strip.
Israel believes that Haddad is one of the masterminds of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in southern Israel, who is among the most wanted persons.
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There was no immediate comment from Hamas on a Reuters request for comment on the fate of Izz al-Din al-Haddad, who took over as the Islamist group’s military commander in the Gaza Strip after the death of commander Mohammed Shinwar by the Israeli army in May 2025.
Haddad is the most senior Hamas official to be targeted by an Israeli airstrike since October, when a US-backed deal was struck to stop the fighting in Gaza.
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The attack comes as Hamas strengthens its control of a strip of territory on the Gaza coast that it has been controlling.
In a joint statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said Haddad “was responsible for the killing, kidnapping and harm caused to thousands of Israeli civilians (and) soldiers”. They did not say whether they believe Haddad was killed.
Medical personnel and eyewitnesses in Gaza said an airstrike targeted an apartment in the Rimal area of Gaza City, killing at least one person and wounding several others. The identity of the man killed was not known.
A second Israeli airstrike shortly afterwards targeted a vehicle on a nearby road, according to the same sources. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the second strike.
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