Izz al-Din al-Haddad is regarded as one of the most prominent military commanders in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. In Israeli and media circles, he is known as “the man with seven lives” or “the ghost” because of his repeated survival from assassination attempts carried out by the occupation over several years.
Israeli assessments indicate that he assumed major leadership roles within the Qassam Brigades, especially after the assassination of several military commanders during the war on Gaza, most notably former chief of staff Mohammed Deif.
On Friday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the Israeli military had assassinated al-Haddad after bombing a residential building in central Gaza. However, Hamas had neither confirmed nor denied the report at the time of writing.
The occupation army claims that Izz al-Din al-Haddad is the chief of staff of the Qassam Brigades, succeeding Mohammed Deif. It also considers him one of its most wanted figures since the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, and says he has been responsible for coordinating efforts to reorganise the Qassam Brigades after the latest war.
“The Man with Seven Lives”
Al-Haddad, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Suhaib, was known to have held the position of commander of the Gaza City Brigade before the current war. He is also a senior member of the Qassam Brigades’ smaller military council and is considered one of the central figures within Hamas more broadly.
At least six battalions operated under the command of “the ghost” or “the man with seven lives”, including the elite battalion responsible for the initial assault on the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip on the morning of 7 October 2023.
He had previously survived several assassination attempts, including one during the first months of the genocidal war and another before the war ended.
Rising Through the Ranks
During his service, al-Haddad acted as an important link between various Hamas commanders and took part in planning and executing several military operations.
He rose from the lower ranks within the Gaza Brigade, serving as a company commander, then a battalion commander, before eventually being appointed brigade commander.
Throughout the long months of war and the isolation of northern Gaza, the Gaza Brigade commander became a difficult target for the occupation army and various Israeli intelligence agencies, despite their widespread deployment across the northern areas.
In July 2024, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority said Hamas had appointed Izz al-Din al-Haddad as the new commander of its military wing, following the occupation army’s announcement that it had targeted Mohammed Deif in a massacre in Khan Yunis that same month. In August, the occupation claimed it had verified the success of Deif’s assassination.
During the war, the authority revealed that al-Haddad, who had survived several assassination attempts over the previous decade, had been appointed commander of the entire northern Gaza Strip and had managed military operations throughout the war on the Strip, which lasted nearly two full years.
In notices issued by the Israeli occupation army in the Gaza Strip in November 2023, a financial reward of $750,000 was offered for him.
Al-Haddad and the 7 October Attack
At the end of June 2024, Israel Hayom claimed it had obtained documents revealing the plan and method used by Hamas on 7 October, as well as the instructions al-Haddad allegedly distributed at the time to Qassam fighters.
According to the alleged documents, the 7 October attack was intended to be the first wave of attacks against Israel, followed by further waves under the plan.
The documents claimed that on 6 October, just hours before the surprise attack began, Izz al-Din al-Haddad secretly summoned the battalion commanders under his authority and handed them a printed paper bearing the logo of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
According to the text cited in the report, the document stated that, out of confidence in a sweeping victory, the leadership of the brigades had approved the launch of the major military operation Al-Aqsa Flood. It urged fighters to place their trust in Allah, rely upon Him, fight with courage, act with a clear conscience, and let their calls of “Allahu Akbar” be a declaration of glory.
The occupation army claimed it seized copies of these documents during the war on Gaza. A summary of their contents stated that no member should leave the assembly point, mobile phones should not be used in any way, forces should remain underground, and fighters would receive clarification about the operation during the final two hours.
Immediately afterwards, according to the newspaper’s documents, Abu Suhaib highlighted one of the main objectives for the forces: ensuring live coverage of the attack and the seizure of outposts and settlements, publishing images online, and possibly carrying Arab and Islamic flags to raise them at those sites.
The main objective of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood was then summarised as capturing a large number of Israeli soldiers in the first moments of combat and transferring them to the Gaza Strip.
Al-Haddad’s Last Known Appearance
The last known public media appearance of Izz al-Din al-Haddad was in January 2025, when he gave an exclusive interview to Qatar’s Al Jazeera, speaking about his role in planning the 7 October attack and the movement’s demands for ending the war.
In May 2022, al-Haddad also appeared in a recorded video in which he said the occupation would be surprised by the accuracy, intensity, and impact of Qassam rockets in any coming battle.
He added that the Zionist enemy’s assassination of heroic commanders and manufacturing engineers would not halt the development of Qassam rockets, and that the enemy would see what displeased it, by Allah’s will.
In a speech featured in a film about Walid Shamali, al-Haddad said the enemy would see in the coming battle the work of that dedicated group, describing it as the promise of Allah, and saying that they would enter the blessed land and that they were coming.
