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The commander of Hamas’ military wing Qassam Brigades was killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza City on Friday evening, according to local sources, Hamas officials and the Israeli army.
The strike also killed his wife and daughter, local sources said, adding that their funerals were held in Gaza City.
Haddad’s sister also confirmed his death while speaking to reporters. Hamas later confirmed the killing on Saturday.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a recorded statement that the movement mourned “one of the greatest fighters of the Palestinian people, the commander-in-chief of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Izz al-Din al-Haddad (Abu Suhaib), after a long journey of struggle and confrontation against the occupation.”
Qassem said Haddad “joins the martyred leaders and symbols of the contemporary Palestinian revolution,” adding that “the movement’s path will continue despite this great loss, driven by hope for victory.”
Two Hamas officials also told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that Haddad had been killed in an Israeli strike.
One senior Hamas official said Haddad was assassinated in a strike targeting a residential apartment and a civilian vehicle in Gaza City. A member of Hamas’ armed wing separately confirmed his death.
AFP photographs showed mourners carrying Haddad’s body, wrapped in a Hamas flag, from the ruins of a building. His body was later taken to a mosque for prayers before burial.
The Israeli army said Saturday that it had killed Haddad in what it called a precise strike in Gaza City, carried out with the Shin Bet domestic security agency.
“The IDF and the ISA announce that yesterday, in a precise strike in the area of the City of Gaza, the terrorist Ezzedine Al-Haddad was eliminated,” the military said.
Israel described Haddad as a key architect of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and said he was “one of the last senior commanders in Hamas’s military wing” involved in planning and carrying out the attack.
The Israeli military also said he was involved in holding Israeli hostages during the war and managed Hamas’ hostage captivity system.
Israel’s military chief Lt. Col. Eyal Zamir called the killing a “significant operational achievement,” saying Haddad’s name had come up repeatedly in conversations with returned hostages.
Born in 1970, Haddad became commander of Hamas’ armed wing in May last year after his predecessor was killed in an Israeli strike, according to a Hamas source.
The source said Haddad had survived six previous Israeli assassination attempts. He was also a founder of Hamas’ security service and oversaw prisoner exchanges, including those under the October cease-fire.
The development came as the Israeli army continued daily violations of the truce in the Gaza Strip, which took effect in October 2025.
The ceasefire followed Israel’s two-year war in Gaza, which killed more than 72,000 people and wounded more than 172,000 others.
The Oct. 7 attack killed 1,221 people on the Israeli side, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants also abducted 251 hostages to Gaza.
Despite the October ceasefire, violence has continued in Gaza, with both Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violating the truce.
At least 856 Palestinians have been killed since the truce began, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The Israeli military said five soldiers have been killed in Gaza during the same period.
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