The head of the armed wing of Hamas, Ezzedine al-Haddad, who had a key role in the October 7 attack according to Israel, was killed in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army and the Palestinian Islamist movement announced on Saturday, May 16, the day after a strike targeting him. According to a Hamas official, Ezzedine al-Haddad “Was assassinated in an Israeli strike targeting a residential apartment and a civilian vehicle yesterday [vendredi] Gaza.
Ezzedine al-Haddad had long been in the sights of the Israeli army: he is described as “the last high-ranking Hamas leader still present in the Gaza Strip to have participated in organizing the massacre†of October 7, in the words of an Israeli military official. The Defense Ministry announced Friday that it had targeted him, without immediately confirming the death of the man it had presented as a « leading terrorist » et «One of the leading architects » from October 7. He was killed with his wife and daughter, according to another source within Hamas. Their funeral took place Saturday morning in Gaza City, with images showing a mourning crowd around Ezzedine al-Haddad’s coffin, wrapped in a Hamas flag.
Le chef d’état-major de l’armée israélienne, Eyal Zamir, a salué un « succès opérationnel majeur ». “In all the conversations I had with the freed hostages, his name […] kept coming back.”he said in a press release. And to add: “Today we managed to eliminate it. The Israeli army will continue to hunt down our enemies, strike them and hold all those who took part to account.” to October 7.
Six assassination attempts
The Defense Minister accuses Ezzedine al-Haddad of being “responsible for the murder, kidnapping and suffering of thousands of Israeli civilians and Israeli army soldiersâ€. “He held our hostages in brutal conditions of captivity, orchestrated terrorist attacks against our forces, and refused to implement the agreement proposed by US President Donald Trump to disarm Hamas and demilitarize the Gaza Strip.”he said on Friday.
Born in 1970, Ezzedine al-Haddad took command of the armed wing of Hamas in May 2025, after the death of his predecessor, already in an Israeli strike, according to the source within the Islamist movement. He had previously survived six assassination attempts by Israel, she said. At the origin of the creation of the Hamas security services, he was responsible for supervising exchanges between hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has claimed responsibility for the assassination of several senior Hamas officials, including Yahya Sinouar, its leader in Gaza, killed on October 16, 2024 and considered the mastermind of the attacks. In addition to Yahya Sinouar, the Israeli army killed Mohammed Deif, commander in chief of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades and another mastermind of the attacks, in July 2024. Israeli strikes also targeted Hamas leaders abroad, as well as senior commanders of Lebanese Hezbollah, including its former leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
