JERUSALEM, May 15 - Israeli officials announced on Friday that a strike in Gaza was directed at Izz al-Din al-Haddad, whom they identified as the head of Hamas’ armed wing in the Gaza Strip and an architect of the October 7, 2023 attacks that led to Israel’s two-year military campaign in the territory.
Haddad assumed the role of the group’s military chief in Gaza following the killing of commander Mohammad Sinwar in May 2025, according to the statement from Israel. The government said the operation targeted the most senior Hamas official struck by Israel since an October deal, backed by the United States, that was intended to halt fighting in Gaza.
In a joint declaration, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said Haddad "was responsible for the murder, abduction, and harm inflicted on thousands of Israeli civilians (and) soldiers." The two leaders did not state whether they believed Haddad had been killed by the strike.
Hamas had not responded immediately to requests for comment on Haddad’s fate, the Israeli statement said. The limited official reaction left the status of the militant leader unconfirmed publicly at the time of reporting.
Medics and witnesses in Gaza reported that one air strike hit an apartment in the Rimal area of Gaza City. They said at least one person was killed and several others were wounded, but the identity of the person killed was not immediately clear.
Shortly after the strike on the apartment, medics and witnesses described a second Israeli air strike that targeted a vehicle on a nearby street. There were no immediate reports of casualties from that follow-up strike.
Israeli officials framed the operation as a direct measure against a senior Hamas leader they hold responsible for the October 7 attacks. The action also took place as Hamas has been described as consolidating control over a narrow coastal area of Gaza that remains under its authority.
Note: Where information remained limited in the immediate aftermath, officials and local sources provided the details included here. No confirmed public report had established Haddad’s status at the time of this account.