Hamas has reportedly named Iz al-Din Haddad, dubbed the “Ghost of Al-Qassam”, as the new leader of its military wing – its third in seven months.
Haddad, also known as Abu Suhaib, will take over the role following the death of Mohammed Sinwar in an Israeli airstrike on the European Hospital compound in Khan Younis.
Sinwar himself had only taken over in January after his elder brother Yahya, who had led the group in Gaza since 2017, was eliminated by the IDF last year.
But unlike the elder Sinwar, who made relatively frequent public appearances before the outbreak of the Gaza War, Haddad has earned his nickname by keeping a strictly low profile for several years.
According to the Wall Street Journal, he has survived two Israeli assassination attempts and currently has a $750,000 IDF bounty on his head.
Little is known about his background but he reportedly rose through the ranks of the Al-Qassam Brigades and was also a member of Al-Majd, the group’s internal security force known for weeding out and brutally murdering collaborators and Israeli spies.
He was also understood to be instrumental in planning the October 7, 2023 massacres alongside the Sinwar brothers.
One former hostage held by the terror group said that he met Haddad five times during his captivity and even slept in the same apartment as him.
Haddad reportedly told the captive that he was responsible for all of the Israelis held in Gaza, showing pictures of them that he kept on his phone. The hostage also reported that Haddad spoke fluent Hebrew and even expressed concern for the treatment of those Israelis being held during earlier meeting, though later turned colder and complained about “Israeli war crimes”, apparently after his son had been killed by the IDF.
However, Hamas officials indicated to the Journal that Haddad is considered a more pragmatic leader than the hardline Sinwars and was reportedly the one who pushed Mohammed Sinwar to accept a ceasefire deal in January.
He was also said to be in favour of releasing more hostages to sustain the truce, which collapsed in March, and is reportedly more willing to discuss Hamas’ disarmament in future peace talks.
