The Israeli army and Shin Bet, the internal security agency, announced the “elimination of the terrorist Ezzedine al-Haddad,” confirmed by two Hamas officials to AFP.
“He was assassinated during an Israeli strike that hit a residential building and a civilian vehicle in Gaza on Friday,” one of them clarified.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has claimed responsibility for the assassination of several top Hamas officials, including Yahya Sinouar, the leader of the armed group in Gaza, who was killed on October 16, 2024, and considered the mastermind of the attacks.
Ezzedine al-Haddad has long been a target of the army: he is described as “the last senior leader of Hamas still present in the Gaza Strip to have participated in the organization of the massacre,” according to an Israeli military official.
The Defense Ministry had indicated on Friday that he was targeted, without immediately confirming his death, presenting him as a “high-ranking terrorist” and “one of the main architects” of October 7.
He was killed along with his wife and daughter, according to another Hamas source.
Their funerals took place on Saturday in Gaza City, with AFP images showing a mourning crowd around Haddad’s body, wrapped in a Hamas flag.
Israeli army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir hailed a “major operational success.” “In all the conversations I had with the freed hostages, his name kept coming up,” he said in a separate statement.
“And to add: “Today, we succeeded in eliminating him. The Israeli army will continue to track down our enemies, strike them, and hold accountable all those who took part” in October 7.
According to Israel, Ezzedine al-Haddad “managed the hostage detention system, surrounding himself with hostages to try to escape elimination.”
Hamas paid tribute to one of the “greatest fighters” in Palestinian history, according to their spokesman Hazem Qassem. “It is a huge loss, but the path continues to liberation.”
Israeli forces also announced that they killed three other movement fighters in the last two weeks, including two involved in October 7.
The armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, carried out the attack on southern Israeli towns, resulting in the deaths of 1,221 people and the abduction of 251 hostages taken to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
Over 72,700 Palestinians were killed in Israel’s retaliatory military campaign, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, under Hamas authority and whose numbers are deemed reliable by the UN.
A ceasefire has been in effect since October 10, 2025, in the Palestinian territory controlled partly by Hamas and partly by the Israeli army.
Born in 1970, Ezzedine al-Haddad took command of the Hamas armed wing in May 2025 after his predecessor’s death in an Israeli strike, according to a source within the Islamist movement.
He had previously survived six assassination attempts by Israel.
Responsible for the creation of Hamas security services, he oversaw exchanges between hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners.
In addition to Yahya Sinouar, the Israeli army had also killed Mohammed Deif, chief commander of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, in July 2024, another mastermind behind the attacks.
Israeli strikes have also targeted Hamas leaders abroad and senior commanders of the Lebanese Hezbollah allied with the group, including former leader Hassan Nasrallah.
