Jerusalem —
According to a joint statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israel carried out attacks targeting top Hamas military leaders despite the fragile ceasefire in Gaza brokered by the United States.
Israel has held Izz al-Din al-Haddad responsible for being one of the “architects” of the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, and for taking hostages in the attack’s aftermath. Israel also accused al-Haddad of refusing to “implement the agreement led by US President Trump on the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.”
Gaza’s emergency services announced that Israel attacked a residential building in the Al-Rimal neighborhood on the outskirts of Gaza City on Friday afternoon. The director of Al Shifa Hospital told CNN that at least one woman was killed in the attack and six others were injured, one in critical condition.
The secretive al-Haddad is considered one of Hamas’ most important figures and is known as the “Ghost of Al Qassam” due to his low profile. He is the commander of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. Al-Haddad was considered one of the extremist group’s top decision-makers after Israel assassinated other Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, his brother Mohamed Sinwar, and Mohamed Deif.
A senior Israeli security official said early indications were that al-Haddad’s assassination was successful.
Hamas did not respond to requests for comment. CNN has not been able to independently confirm whether al-Haddad was killed in the airstrike.
The attack came despite an ostensible ceasefire that has been in place since October. Israel has carried out regular attacks in the Gaza Strip, which officials say target Hamas or what officials describe as an immediate threat to Israeli forces, which occupy more than half of the destroyed enclave.
Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 850 people in the Gaza Strip since a ceasefire took effect in mid-October, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
On Thursday, the person responsible for implementing the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire agreement said it had brought “relative stability” but acknowledged it was “far from perfect.”
Nikolai Mladenov, a former United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said at a news conference that disarming Hamas remains a key hurdle. “The plan is clear: Hamas must withdraw from governing Gaza, its weapons must be disposed of, and Gaza must be deradicalized,” he said. Mladenov said Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza is conditional on other elements of the plan, primarily the disarmament of Hamas and the achievement of civilian rule in Gaza.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
