The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday, May 16, 2026, confirmed killing Hamas military chief Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the terror group’s leader in Gaza, in a “precise strike” on Gaza City the previous day. The IDF described Haddad as “one of the architects of the brutal October 7 massacre” and called the operation a significant blow to Hamas leadership. A Hamas source said Haddad was killed along with his wife and a daughter.
The military said Haddad had recently “acted to rebuild the capabilities of the terrorist organization’s military wing and to plan numerous terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops,” despite a US-brokered ceasefire reached in October 2025. He took over the role of military chief and leader of Hamas in Gaza following the killing of Mohammed Sinwar in May 2025. “Throughout the war, Haddad was involved in holding many Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity. Haddad managed Hamas’s hostage captivity system and surrounded himself with hostages in an attempt to prevent his elimination,” the IDF said.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir hailed the killing as a “significant operational success” led by Southern Command, the Intelligence Directorate, the Air Force and the Shin Bet. Zamir said the name of “the arch-terrorist” Haddad “came up again and again” in his conversations with former hostages. “Today, we succeeded in eliminating him,” Zamir said. “The IDF will continue to pursue our enemies, strike, and settle accounts with everyone who took part in the October 7 massacre.”
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