Hamas chief in Gaza killed in Israeli strike, senior official from terror group says

By Reuters 16 May 2026, 12:51 pm

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People inspect the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a residential building in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on May 16, 2026. Israel said that it had targeted Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip and the head of the terror group’s military wing (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

CAIRO, Egypt — A senior Hamas official tells Reuters that the chief of the terror group’s military wing and leader in Gaza had died, a day after Israel said that it had carried out airstrikes targeting him.

Earlier, witnesses in Gaza City said that mosques had announced Izz al-Din al-Haddad’s “martyrdom.” He is the most senior Hamas official killed by Israel since an October US-backed ceasefire deal that was meant to halt fighting in Gaza, and the last mastermind of the October 7, 2023, massacre to be killed.

Hamas has not publicly confirmed Haddad’s death.

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.