Israeli airstrikes killed at least seven Palestinians in Gaza on Friday (15 May), including a child, as Israel said it had launched an operation targeting Hamas military commander Izz al-Din al-Haddad.
Hamas confirmed in a statement that Haddad, who was born in 1970, had been killed alongside his wife and daughter. The group described him as a key figure in overseeing combat operations and accused Israel of attempting to achieve through targeted killings what it had failed to accomplish militarily.
A joint funeral for Haddad, his wife and their 19-year-old daughter was held on Saturday (16 May) at Al Aqsa Martyrs Mosque in central Gaza.
The strikes hit Gaza City’s Rimal district, where medics said an apartment building and a nearby vehicle were targeted within minutes of each other. According to emergency workers, at least three women were among the dead, while around 50 people were wounded.
Haddad is regarded as Hamas’ most senior military figure in Gaza following the killing of commander Mohammad Sinwar by Israeli forces in May 2025.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz described him as one of the key organisers of the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel, which triggered the war in Gaza.
In a joint statement, Netanyahu and Katz accused Haddad of being “responsible for the murder, abduction, and harm inflicted on thousands of Israeli civilians and soldiers”. They stopped short, however, of saying whether the operation had succeeded in killing him.
The attack marks the highest-profile attempt by Israel to eliminate a senior Hamas figure since the ceasefire arrangement brokered with U.S. backing last October. That agreement largely halted the fighting after two years of war, though negotiations over a lasting settlement have since stalled.
Talks remain deadlocked over competing demands surrounding the future governance of Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli troops, and the disarmament of Hamas. The impasse has unfolded alongside renewed military operations and worsening humanitarian conditions across the territory.
Footage filmed by Reuters at the scene showed flames tearing through an upper floor of a heavily damaged residential block. Residents and rescue workers were seen pulling casualties from the rubble, with at least one body wrapped in a white plastic sheet.
Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defence agency, said the building had been sheltering hundreds of displaced people when it was hit.
“The missile was fired without any pre-warning or notification,” Basal said. “We are talking about a number of dead. We are talking about a big number of wounded, among them families.”
Medical officials said the first strike hit an apartment in Rimal, killing four people and injuring several others. A second strike shortly afterwards targeted a vehicle on a nearby street, leaving three more dead.
Israel has intensified its operations in Gaza over the past five weeks after ending a period in which its military focus had shifted towards Iran during a joint bombing campaign with the United States. Israeli officials believe Hamas fighters have been regrouping inside the enclave amid the relative lull in large-scale combat.
Despite the ceasefire reached last October, Israeli forces still control more than half of Gaza, according to Palestinian officials and aid agencies.
Large areas of the territory have been reduced to rubble, with much of the population displaced into overcrowded coastal zones where many are living in tents or damaged buildings.
More than two million Palestinians remain confined to a narrow strip along the Mediterranean coast, where Hamas continues to exercise de facto authority.
According to Palestinian figures, around 850 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since the October ceasefire came into effect, though the data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Israeli authorities say four of their soldiers have been killed by Hamas fighters during the same period. Hamas has not released casualty figures for its own members.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) took first place in state elections in northeastern Germany on Sunday,...
Iran's military has threatened to launch sustained attacks on U.S. bases and interests across the Middle East if Washington resumes milita...
Overnight Russian strikes on the city of Sumy, northeast Ukraine, have killed one woman and injured a man, the country's State Emergency Servic...
Saudi civil defence sent an all-clear on Saturday after issuing alerts for a second time for potential danger in Riyadh and the city of Al-Kharj east of the capital, amid an uptick in attacks by Iran-aligned Houthis on the Gulf country.
Houthi attacks target Riyadh amid concerns over Saudi oil supplies, as Iran says it will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until its conditions are met and U.S. commitments are implemented, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday.
The U.S. State Department approved a $2.7 billion military sale to Ukraine for air-defence development upgrades, along with related equipment and services, the department said. Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities reported at least 10 people had died in Russian attacks over the last 24 hours.
The death toll from an overnight Russian attack on the Kyiv region rose to four, including three children, Kyiv regional authorities said on Sunday. A mother and her two 3-year-old children were killed when a Russian drone strike hit a private home, the emergency service said.
Russian authorities have reported attacks on voting systems and communication lines as the country’s parliamentary election entered its second day on Saturday (19 September).
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has cleared the criminal record of former soldier Elor Azaria, who was convicted of manslaughter for shooting dead a wounded Palestinian in the West Bank in 2016.
Saudi civil defence sent an all-clear on Saturday after issuing alerts for a second time for potential danger in Riyadh and the city of Al-Kharj east of the capital, amid an uptick in attacks by Iran-aligned Houthis on the Gulf country.
Uzbekistan’s grape exports have grown rapidly. In January-August 2025, the country exported 86,200 tonnes of fresh grapes worth $78.3 million to 19 countries but can it turn these crops into a recognisable international product?
The death toll in a suicide attack at a police compound in northwest Pakistan has reached 31, AFP reported on Saturday, citing a police official.
Azerbaijan has rejected France’s justification for advising its citizens against travel to the country, after Paris cited risks of arbitrary detention and unfair trials.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment