Last Hamas chief tied to Oct 7 attack is dead

ELIMINATED | Strike killed al-Haddad, 6 others: Israeli army

FPJ News Desk Mumbai

An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed the leader of Hamas’ military wing, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, who was one of the last surviving architects of the Oct 7, 2023 attacks, the Israeli military said on Saturday. Al-Haddad died in a strike on Friday along with six other individuals, according to confirmations given by his family. 

The Israeli army described al-Haddad as a senior commander who directed the planning and execution of the October incursions, which killed nearly 1,200 people in Israel and resulted in over 250 hostages being taken into Gaza. 

Israel noted that al-Haddad took over the military wing after his predecessor, Mohammed Sinwar, was killed. Officials added al-Haddad had consistently shielded himself with Israeli hostages throughout the war to prevent targeted attacks.

His funeral was held on Saturday in Gaza City, where mourners carried his body wrapped in flags. Al-Haddad’s history with the group traces back to its establishment in the 1980s, where he served in the Qassam Brigades’ Majd section targeting collaborators, and held a seat on Hamas’ influential Military Council.

2 Hamas terrorists involved in Oct 7 dead

Two Hamas terrorists who invaded Israel during the October 7 onslaught were also killed in recent strikes in the Gaza Strip, IDF announced.

Khamer Iyad Muhammad Al-Matouq and Khaled Muhammad Salem Jouda were killed in separate strikes in northern Gaza in the past two weeks. The military said the pair invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, recently attempted to carry out attacks on troops in Gaza, and had “posed an immediate threat to the forces.” Another strike in central Gaza on Wednesday killed Abdel Rahman Mah­moud Jumaa Shafi, a member of Hamas’s Bureij Battalion, who the military said adva­n­ced attacks on troops in Gaza, The Times of Israel reported.

The killing comes at a time when the ceasefire remains fragile, stalled by issues like Hamas’ disarmament. Despite the truce taking effect in October, regular exchanges persist. Gaza’s health ministry reports over 850 people have died from near-daily fire since the truce, bringing the overall death toll from retaliatory strikes to 72,700+. 

Separate Anti-Israel, anti-migrant protests rock London; 11 arrested

London police said 11 arrests were made as concurrent anti-Israel and anti-migrant protests assemble on separate sides of the city. They said officers arrested two men, wanted on suspicion of being connected of running over a man in Birmingham, while trying to attend the Unite the Kingdom protest. Separately, a woman at the anti-Israel protest was arrested for refusing to remove a face mask.