By Mukesh 
Israel said on Friday (May 15, 2026) that it carried out a strike in Gaza targeting Ezzedine Al-Haddad, whom it described as the chief of the armed wing of the Palestinian movement Hamas.
“Under the direction of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz, the IDF has carried out a strike in Gaza targeting arch-terrorist Ezzedine Al-Haddad, commander of Hamas’s military wing and one of the principal architects of the October 7 massacre,” a statement issued by the office of the Defence Minister said.
“Al-Haddad was responsible for the murder, abduction, and harm inflicted upon thousands of Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers,” the statement said.
“He held our hostages in brutal captivity, orchestrated terrorist attacks against our forces, and refused to implement the agreement advanced by U.S. President Donald Trump for Hamas’s disarmament and the demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip,” the statement said.