The Israeli Defense Forces on Saturday confirmed the killing of Hamas armed wing commander Ezzedine Al-Haddad in an air strike in Gaza.
“The IDF and the ISA announce that yesterday, in a precise strike in the area of the City of Gaza, the terrorist Ezzedine Al-Haddad was eliminated,” the Israeli military said, in reference to itself and Israel’s domestic security agency Shin Bet.
The military further said that Al-Haddad was “one of the last senior commanders in Hamas’s military wing” who had been involved in the “planning and execution of the October 7th” attack.
‘Surrounded himself with hostages’: Israeli military
Two Hamas officials also confirmed to AFP that Haddad had been killed in an Israeli strike which hit a residential apartment and a civilian vehicle in Gaza City on Friday.
The Israeli military claimed that Al-Haddad had, throughout the Israel-Hamas war, been involved in holding of many Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity.
“Haddad managed Hamas’s hostage captivity system and surrounded himself with hostages in an attempt to prevent his elimination,” the Israeli Defense Forces added.
