The new head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Az al-Din Haddad, keeps an extremely low profile, speaks Hebrew and carries photos of Israeli hostages on his cellphone, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday
According to the report, which cited Arab and Israeli officials, as well as a former hostage who met him while in captivity, Haddad helped plan the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 251 abducted as hostages to Gaza, triggering the ongoing war with Israel.
A Hamas official told the Journal that Haddad, 55, is known as the “Ghost of al-Qassam” because of his low profile. He has survived several attempts by Israel to assassinate him and has a $750,000 bounty on his head. His two sons were both killed this year during the war.
An unnamed released Israeli hostage said that he met Haddad five times in Gaza, even sleeping in the same apartment as him. In their first meeting in March 2024, Haddad insisted on speaking in Hebrew and told the hostage and others with him that he was responsible for all of the captives. Haddad then showed them photos of hostages he had on his phone.
The former hostage said that Haddad was concerned about how captives would describe their treatment. When the hostage told him that some of their guards are better than others, Haddad responded, “This is life. There are good people, and there are bad people.”
At the time, Haddad seemed cordial, asking the hostage if there was anything he needed. However, at a later meeting in January, the terror chief was colder, keeping his face covered, and complaining about alleged Israeli war crimes.
The hostage later found out that shortly before that meeting, one of Haddad’s sons had been killed.
Haddad’s predecessor in charge of Hamas in Gaza, Muhammad Sinwar, was killed in mid-May in an Israeli strike. Before that, the terror group was led by Sinwar’s older brother, Yahya, who Israel killed in October last year.
After the military, at the end of May, confirmed the death of Muhammad Sinwar, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned the remaining Hamas leaders in Gaza and abroad that they are next.
“Izz al-Din Haddad in Gaza and Khalil al-Hayya abroad, and all their partners in crime, you are next in line,” Katz said in a statement.
Haddad rose through the ranks of Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, eventually taking over as its chief, Arab and Israeli officials said. He was also in the al-Majd, the Hamas internal security group that hunts those who collaborate with Israel and spies. Al-Majd was in the past led by Yahya Sinwar.
After the elder Sinwar’s death, Haddad took control of Hamas forces in the north of Gaza while Muhammad Sinwar controlled the south, before eventually going on to become the overall head of Hamas in Gaza.
Arab intelligence officials and two Hamas officials told the Journal that Haddad has shown himself to be more pragmatic than the Sinwar brothers before him.
It was Haddad who pushed Sinwar to accept a January ceasefire deal that included the release of dozens of Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. He was also said to be in favor of releasing more hostages to keep the truce going, though it eventually collapsed in March. The report also described Haddad as more amenable to Israel’s demand that Hamas disarm as part of a process to end the war, a measure rejected by both Sinwars.