Mourners carry portraits of Ezzedine Al-Haddad, the slain chief of the Qassam Brigades -- the armed wing of Palestinian movement Hamas, who was killed in an overnight Israeli strike along with his daughter and wife, during their funeral in Gaza City on May 16, 2026. Israel said on May 15 that it carried out a strike in Gaza targeting Haddad. Since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the Israeli military and intelligence services have waged an extensive campaign targeting the group's senior political leaders and militant commanders in Gaza and across the region. (Credit: Omar AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images)
For nearly three years, Izz al-Din al-Haddad had been the most wanted man in Gaza.
He had survived six Israeli assassination attempts. He had moved through tunnels beneath a shattered city while Israeli intelligence hunted him relentlessly. He had earned the name "the Ghost of al-Qassam" — a nod to his ability to vanish before every strike closed in. Israeli hostages who were held near him came home and told their debriefing officers the same thing: that al-Haddad's name came up in their captivity again and again.
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