The Israeli military said on Saturday that it had killed the commander of Hamas’s military wing in an airstrike in Gaza the day before, the most senior Hamas official killed by Israel since a US-backed ceasefire agreement in October that was intended to stop the fighting.
A senior Hamas official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Izz al-Din al-Haddad, who was born in 1970, was killed in the attack. Hamas spokesman in Gaza Hazem Qassem later said in a video statement posted on Facebook that Haddad had died, without providing further details.
Today, Saturday, in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Mosque in the central Gaza Strip, a joint funeral was held for Haddad, his wife, and their 19-year-old daughter. It was not immediately clear how they died.
Israel launched at least two attacks on Gaza on Friday, killing seven Palestinians, including three women and a child, according to local doctors. A Palestinian source said that Haddad was killed in an Israeli raid on a residential building.
The Israeli army said that Haddad was killed in what it described as a precision strike on Gaza City. Israel has launched repeated raids on Gaza since the start of the ceasefire.
Casualties increased despite the ceasefire
About 850 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli raids since the ceasefire in October, according to figures that do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Gunmen killed four Israeli soldiers during the same period. Hamas did not reveal casualty figures among its fighters.
