A senior Hamas official confirmed that Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the head of the group's military wing, has been killed. The announcement came on Saturday, a day after Israel said it had carried out airstrikes targeting him.
Witnesses in Gaza City reported that mosques announced Haddad's "martyrdom." He is the most senior Hamas leader killed by Israel since the US-backed ceasefire in October 2023.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said Haddad was targeted on Friday. They called him an architect of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Haddad became military chief after Israel killed Mohammad Sinwar in May 2025.
Medics said at least seven people-including three women and a child-were killed and 50 wounded in the strikes. It remains unclear if Haddad was among them. Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked in indirect talks on a postwar plan proposed by President Donald Trump.