Hamas confirms killing of Qassam Brigades leader in Israeli attack

Hamas has confirmed the killing of Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the head of the armed wing of the Palestinian group in Gaza, in an Israeli attack a day earlier.

Hamas condemned Israel’s “treacherous and cowardly assassination” of al-Haddad, who led the Qassam Brigades, in a statement on Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Friday that Israeli forces had targeted and killed al-Haddad, calling him “one of the architects” of the October 7, 2023, attacks.

Hamas said al-Haddad was killed along with his wife, his daughter, and other Palestinian civilians on Friday evening.

The Israeli strikes targeted the Remal neighbourhood west of Gaza City. Three Palestinians were killed in a strike on a civilian vehicle, and four others died in a strike on a building, medical sources said.

Three women and a baby were among those killed, sources told Al Jazeera. Dozens of other people were wounded.

Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim Al Khalili, reporting from Gaza on the attack that killed al-Haddad, said the strikes caused “panic” at the scene as dozens of Palestinians were forced to flee the “massive fire” that engulfed the residential building.

Hamas said al-Haddad’s killing marks the latest Israeli breach of the Gaza “ceasefire” agreement, as well as its “ongoing aggression against innocent civilians” in the enclave.

Such attacks reaffirm “the criminal and fascist nature” of Israel, the group said.

“It demonstrates its disregard for all international laws and conventions, and its failed attempts to impose political and military realities that it has been unable to achieve by force,” its statement added.

The Palestinian Mujahideen Movement and its military wing, the Mujahideen Brigades, also mourned al-Haddad.

“We commend his immense sacrifices and long struggle, and we recall his rich history of resistance against the Zionist enemy, fighting it until he was martyred,” their joint statement said.

It added that the “cowardly assassination” will not “weaken the resolve of the” resistance group. “It will not be able to resolve the conflict, despite the war machine and annihilation it has unleashed for over two and a half years.”

Last December, Israel killed senior Hamas commander Raed Saad, then Haddad’s second-in-command, in attack that wounded at least 25 people.

Since the so-called “ceasefire” began in October last year, the death toll from Israeli attacks has reached 870, and the number of injured has climbed to 2,543, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.