Gaza mosques announce Hamas military leader’s death
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Mosques in northern Gaza have announced Hamas’ military wing commander has died, a day after Israel’s military reported it had targeted the armed wing chief in air strikes.
Witnesses said mosques in Gaza City had announced Izz al-Din al-Haddad’s “martyrdom”.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas on the fate of the militant group’s military chief.
Israel has not said if he was killed in the air strikes on Friday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a joint statement with his defence minister on Friday that Haddad had been targeted, though they did not say if he had been killed.
Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said Haddad was an architect of the October 7, 2023 attacks launched by Hamas militants that precipitated Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza.
Haddad, who became the group’s military chief in Gaza after Israel’s killing of Mohammad Sinwar in May 2025, “was responsible for the murder, abduction, and harm inflicted on thousands of Israeli civilians (and) soldiers,” they said.
Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked in indirect talks to advance US President Donald Trump’s post-war plan for Gaza that is meant to end more than two years of fighting.
Medics in Gaza on Friday said at least seven people, including three women and a child, were killed and at least 50 injured in air strikes targeting an apartment and a vehicle. It is not clear if Haddad was one of the dead.
Israel has escalated its attacks in Gaza in the weeks since halting its joint bombing with the US in Iran, redirecting its fire back on the ruined Palestinian territory where the military says that Hamas fighters are tightening their grip.
Reuters