Hamas Military Leader Killed May 2026: Israel Eliminates Last Oct. 7 Architect Izz al-Din al-Haddad

# Hamas Military Leader Killed May 2026: Israel Eliminates Last Oct. 7 Architect Izz al-Din al-Haddad

> **Quick answer:** Israel killed Izz al-Din al-Haddad — head of Hamas's Qassam Brigades and the last senior figure who planned the October 7 attacks — in a precision airstrike in Gaza City on May 15, 2026. Six others died in the strike, including his wife and daughter. His death is the most significant blow to Hamas's military command since Mohammed Sinwar was killed in May 2025, and it immediately puts the already-stalled Gaza ceasefire under new pressure.

The Hamas military leader killed on May 15, 2026 had survived six previous assassination attempts, earned the nickname "Ghost of al-Qassam," and carried a $750,000 Israeli bounty on his head. Now Izz al-Din al-Haddad is dead — and with him, Israel says, goes the last member of the inner circle that planned October 7.

## Who Was Izz al-Din al-Haddad?

Al-Haddad was born in Gaza in 1970 and joined Hamas at its founding in 1987 at age 17. Over nearly four decades, he rose through every level of the organization's military command — from Gaza Brigade operative to platoon commander, to battalion commander, to the top of the entire Qassam Brigades.

He was the 8th Commander of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, a position he assumed in May 2025 after the killing of his predecessor, Mohammed Sinwar. He simultaneously served as the 4th Leader of Hamas in Gaza from June 2025 until his death.