One of the leaders of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 2023 has been killed in an airstrike on Gaza, the IDF has confirmed.
Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the head of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the terrorist group, died in a strike on Gaza on Friday.
Israel has vowed to remove the architects of October 7.
In a post on social media on Saturday, the IDF said it had “eliminated” al-Haddad, who had survived previous attempts to assassinate him.
It said he had “led Hamas’ plans of the infiltration of IDF outposts and communities” during the October 7 massacre.
He had “assumed his role” following the death of Mohammed Sinwar in October 2024, the IDF said, “and recently operated to rehabilitate Hamas’ military wing capabilities.
The veteran commander - who was nicknamed “the Ghost” - had joined Hamas in its early days.
According to the IDF, he was “heavily involved” in the holding of Israeli hostages in Gaza and “surrounded himself with hostages, including the Nahal Oz female field observers, to avoid IDF strikes”.
Al-Jazeera cited a statement from the Palestinian Mujahideen Brigades and Mujahideen Movement eulogising his “rich history of resistance against the Zionist enemy, fighting it until he was martyred”.
According to US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, Hamas are supposed to disarm - but the group has so far refused to do so.
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