by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
JERUSALEM/GAZA (Worthy News) – Israel confirmed Friday that it targeted Hamas’s de facto leader in Gaza in an airstrike that could mark the highest-level assassination attempt against the militant group since a ceasefire began last fall.
Hamas-linked Gaza medics said at least seven Palestinians, including three women and a child, were killed and at least 50 others injured in strikes targeting an apartment building and a nearby vehicle in Gaza City.
Hamas did not immediately comment on the fate of Izz al-Din al-Haddad, who became Hamas’s military chief in Gaza after Israeli forces killed commander Mohammad Sinwar in May 2025.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that Haddad was “an architect” of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Israeli officials said Haddad “was responsible for the murder, abduction, and harm inflicted on thousands of Israeli civilians and soldiers.”
DEADLIEST ATTACK SINCE SHOAH
About 1,200 people were killed during the October 7 attacks, including victims of reported sexual violence, in what Israeli leaders have described as the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah.
The first strike reportedly hit an apartment in the Rimal district of Gaza City, killing at least four people and wounding several others, medics said. A second strike targeted a nearby vehicle shortly afterward, killing three more people.
Reuters footage showed flames engulfing part of a heavily damaged residential building as Palestinians pulled bodies from the rubble wrapped in white tarps.
Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defense emergency service, said hundreds of people had been sheltering inside the building.
“The missile was fired without any prior warning or notification,” Basal said. “We are talking about a big number of wounded, among them families.”
GAZA STRIKES HIT RESIDENTIAL AREA
Israeli officials did not immediately confirm whether Haddad was killed. However, two Israeli defense officials, speaking anonymously to international media, said Israeli analysts believed it was likely he had died in the strike.
The attack comes amid growing deadlock in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the future of Gaza and efforts linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s postwar plan for the enclave.
The October 2025 U.S.-backed ceasefire halted major fighting after two years of war, yet talks toward a permanent settlement have stalled over demands for Hamas to disarm and for Israeli troops to withdraw from Gaza.
Israeli officials accuse Hamas leaders, including Haddad, of attempting to rebuild military capabilities and prepare future attacks despite the truce.
Israel has intensified strikes in Gaza in recent weeks after redirecting military attention back to the enclave following joint U.S.-Israeli operations against Iran.
CEASEFIRE TALKS REMAIN DEADLOCKED
Israeli forces now control more than half of Gaza’s territory, according to analysts, while much of the enclave remains devastated after nearly two years of armed conflict.
More than two million Palestinians are believed to be living in overcrowded coastal areas, many in tents or damaged buildings with limited access to aid, water, and electricity.
The Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza, said roughly 850 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes since the October ceasefire began, though the figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says four Israeli soldiers have also been killed during the same period.
Haddad, believed to be in his mid-50s and known within Hamas as Abu Suheib, was one of the few remaining senior commanders involved in planning the October 7 attacks.
A Hebrew speaker, he reportedly rose through Hamas’s ranks after Israel killed several top commanders, including Mohammed Deif, Marwan Issa, and the Sinwar brothers.
HAMAS LEADERSHIP UNDER PRESSURE
Israeli intelligence officials have said Haddad opposed efforts to remove Hamas from power in Gaza and resisted calls for the group to surrender its weapons.
So far, Hamas has indicated willingness to discuss handing over civilian administration in Gaza to a proposed Palestinian technocratic body, but it has not agreed to disarm its military wing.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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