OMAR AL-QATTAA / AFP
Israel claims the “elimination” of the leader of the armed wing of Hamas. (photo of Palestinians mourning in Gaza City, Saturday May 16, 2026)
Israel presents it as “one of the leading architects†from October 7. Ezzedine al-Haddad, head of the armed wing of Hamas, was killed on Friday May 15 in the Gaza Strip. The information is repeated this Saturday, May 16 in a press release from the Israeli army and the Shin Bet, domestic intelligence, which “They will announce” that the “Terrorists.” […] a été éliminé ».
The death of Ezzedine al-Haddad was also confirmed to AFP by two Hamas officials. He “Was assassinated in an Israeli strike targeting a residential apartment and a civilian vehicle yesterday [vendredi] Gazasaid one of them. A member of Hamas’s armed wing also reported the death of its leader.
The Israeli Defense Ministry announced on Friday that it had targeted Ezzedine al-Haddad, without immediately confirming the death of the man it presented as a “Terrorist Prime Minister’s Plan” et “one of the main architects of the October 7 massacre” 2023.
An attack on a “residential building” in Gaza City
The Gaza Civil Defense, a rescue organization under Hamas control, for its part indicated that one person had been killed and around twenty others injured after fighter planes « bombardé un immeuble résidentiel » in the Al-Ramal neighborhood of Gaza City.
Israeli television broadcast footage showing a burning building in Gaza, claiming it was the location where Ezzedine al-Haddad was targeted. The ministry accuses him 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 the American president Donald Trump aimed at the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip »he added Friday.
“He openly violated the ceasefire”
The armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, led the attack on October 7, 2023 against localities in southern Israel, which left more than 1,200 dead. She had also kidnapped 251 hostages, taken to Gaza. The military campaign of retaliation led by Israel devastated the Gaza Strip and left tens of thousands dead.
A truce came into effect on October 10, 2025 in the territory, part of which is controlled by Hamas and the other by the Israeli army. “Haddad openly violated the existing ceasefire by working to restore the capabilities of the terrorist organization’s military wing, planning numerous attacks against Israeli civilians and Israeli army soldiers, and refusing to disarm.”according to an Israeli military official.
He describes the man as “The highest-ranking military official of the Hamas terrorist organization and the last high-ranking Hamas leader still present in the Gaza Strip to have participated in the organization of the October 7 massacre.”.
