Official: Haddad strikes approved last week, executed tonight due to ‘operational opportunity’

A senior Israeli security official says that the strike targeting Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Izz al-Din Haddad, was approved by the political echelon about a week and a half ago.

During that time, Haddad was under “continuous” surveillance, and the strike was carried out this evening “due to an operational opportunity with a high probability of successful elimination,” the official tells reporters.

According to the military, Haddad was targeted by the Israeli Air Force shortly after intelligence officers at the Southern Command and Military Intelligence Directorate received information on his whereabouts.

During the war, Haddad moved between numerous hiding places, surrounding himself with many hostages, including the female surveillance soldiers abducted from the Nahal Oz base, to avoid being targeted in Israeli strikes, a military source says.

Haddad is the most senior Hamas military commander in Gaza and the last remaining senior official in the terror group who led the October 7 onslaught.