Hamas spokesperson in Gaza, Hazem Qassem, said in a video statement published on Facebook that Izz al-Din al-Haddad had died, though he did not provide further details.
A senior Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity, also confirmed that Haddad, born in 1970, was killed in an Israeli strike.
At the Al Aqsa Martyrs Mosque in central Gaza, a joint funeral was held on Saturday for Haddad, his wife, and their 19-year-old daughter.
It was not immediately clear how they died.
Israel’s military said on Saturday that it had killed the head of Hamas’ military wing in an airstrike in Gaza the previous day, describing him as the most senior Hamas official killed since an October U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement meant to halt fighting.
Israeli forces said Haddad was killed in what they described as a “precise strike on Gaza City.”
Local medics reported that at least two Israeli strikes on Friday killed seven Palestinians, including three women and a child.
A Palestinian source said Haddad died in an Israeli strike on a residential apartment building.
Despite the ceasefire, Israel has continued carrying out strikes in Gaza. Since the October truce, about 850 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks, according to figures that do not distinguish between combatants and civilians, while four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants in the same period. Hamas does not release figures for its fighters.
In a joint statement with his defence minister announcing the strike, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Haddad was a key architect of the October 7, 2023 attacks that sparked Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza.
Haddad, who took over as Hamas’ military chief in Gaza after the 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.
Nicknamed “the Ghost,” Haddad had reportedly survived several Israeli assassination attempts, according to Hamas sources. Israel’s military described him as one of Hamas’ longest-serving commanders, saying he rose through the ranks from the group’s early formation in the 1980s to hold senior positions.
Israel and Hamas remain engaged in indirect negotiations aimed at advancing U.S. President Donald Trump’s post-war Gaza plan, intended to end more than two years of fighting.
In recent weeks, Israel has intensified strikes in Gaza after halting joint operations with the U.S. in Iran, refocusing its military campaign on the devastated territory, where it says Hamas fighters are tightening their control.
