Who is Ezzedin al-Haddad, known as the Ghost of al-Qassam, Hamas' third Gaza chief in seven months, Israel can now..
Who is Ezzedin al-Haddad? Ezzedin al-Haddad, a 55 year old Hamas leader has emerged from the shadows to lead Hamas in Gaza, becoming its third chief in just seven turbulent months. With a $750,000 Israeli bounty on his head and a shattered militant network behind him, Haddad now carries the burden of reviving a crumbling empire amid relentless conflict. Here are all the details you need to know about Ezzedin al-Haddad, the third Gaza chief of Hamas in seven months time. Who is Ezzedin al-Haddad?
Ezzedin al-Haddad is a military veteran who is known as the 'Ghost of al‑Qassam'. He has recently been named Hamas's third Gaza leader in just seven months. He took over as Hamas's Gaza leader after the Israeli strikes that killed Yahya and Mohammed Sinwar. Taking charge amid severe depletion of Hamas, Ezzedin al-Haddad is known for his role in the October 7 attacks. He is also known in the military circles for his policies of recruitment, and hostage oversight. Media reports have it that he brings a more pragmatic edge to command, managing negotiations even as he faces a $750,000 bounty and ongoing Israeli operations. In order to further intensify the attack on Gaza, Israel can now plan further attacks. Israel says it killed Palestinian Mujahideen Brigades chief in Gaza
The Israeli military said that its forces had killed at least two senior members of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement in strikes in Gaza City, including a commander accused of involvement in the deadly October 7 attack on Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet security agency said in a joint statement that As'ad Abu Sharaiya, head of the Mujahideen Brigades — the armed wing of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement — was killed in a joint operation. They accused Abu Sharaiya of playing 'a key role' in the Hamas-led assault in 2023 and being 'directly involved in the abduction, detention, and killing of Israeli hostages.'
(With inputs from agencies)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Concern for India as debt diplomacy sees Bangladesh, Pakistan converge with China
Through its debt diplomacy, China has turned Pakistan into a vassal state. It is attempting the same in Bangladesh, whose economy and political stability, particularly after the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, are in the doldrums. While Pakistan has seen just Chinese intrusion, Bangladesh is witnessing a convergence of forces and interests inimical to India. The possible convergence of China, Pakistan and Bangladesh in India's strategic backyard has emerged as a major concern for New Delhi, which Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan flagged most recent example of the convergence of interests would be the meeting of representatives from Pakistan, Bangladesh and China for an alternative to the Saarc, a grouping in which India played a key role. The Saarc has been inactive since the 2016 Uri attack by Pakistani terrorists. Representatives of the three countries met in China's Kunming on June 19 on the Saarc has been working for years to spread its tentacles in the Indian subcontinent. In Pakistan and Bangladesh, China's arms deals and loans have deeply rooted its influence, aligning their interests with Beijing. Then there is Turkey, which provided military support to Pakistan during its days-long conflict with India during Operation Sindoor, is deepening its defence engagement with Bangladesh, and is seeking favourable real estate for arms the possibility of a China-led nexus, and with Turkey acting as a common denominator between India's western and eastern neighbours, New Delhi could be entering tricky diplomatic first glance, the tensions between India and Bangladesh, and between India and Pakistan, appear to be bilateral disputes. But just scratching the surface reveals China's Pakistan, for instance – a state that is little more than a borrower of loans and purchaser of weapons. Its economy leans heavily on IMF assistance and loans from China, while over 80% of its military hardware comes from World Bank estimates Pakistan's debt repayments to China could stretch over 40 years. And Beijing is all too willing to tighten this leash on Islamabad for its dominance in South was even allegedly also involved in the mini-war between India and Pakistan in May 2025. Indian Army Deputy Chief Lt Gen Rahul R Singh had alleged that Beijing offered active military support to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor – an assertion China observers even described the war as a live testing ground for Chinese has also tried to defame a fighter jet supplier to the other hand, India's eastern neighbour, Bangladesh, is also showing signs of being sucked into China's debt trap, more so after student-led protests dislodged Hasina's government in August 2024. The interim government led by Muhammad Yunus has shown enough signs of its willingness to join the Chinese Hasina's ouster, Bangladesh has been facing growing economic fragility. Hasina's choice of India for her self-imposed exile has also strained Dhaka's ties with New shrewd regional politics, coupled with China's growing influence over both Pakistan and Bangladesh, is a concerning scenario for CHINA AND PAKISTAN ARE CONVERGING IN BANGLADESHWhile Pakistan has seen Chinese intervention through infrastructure projects, Bangladesh is also leaning closer to Pakistan even as it entangles itself in loans from toppling of Sheikh Hasina's regime on August 5, 2024, created a ground that was perfect for the breeding of this convergence.A June 2025 Chatham House survey indicated that 75% of Bangladeshis view China favourably, compared to just 11% for has been extensive propaganda in the last couple of years that India was propping up the Hasina regime, which was infamous for its authoritarian nature. The anti-Hasina sentiments might have rubbed off on interim government of Muhammad Yunus is cosying up to most noticeable has been the military engagements between the two countries despite the bloody history of the Pakistani army in Bangladesh Navy participated in Aman 2025, a naval exercise in Karachi, after a gap of 12 years. Earlier in January, a high-level Bangladeshi military delegation held talks with Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim and Pakistan have also established trade two countries resumed direct trade in February 2025 for the first time since 1971, when Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) gained liberation from West agreement signed in February will see Bangladesh purchasing 50,000 tonnes of Pakistani the Yunus government is bonding with Pakistan, it is allowing China to gain a firmer a diversion from the past when Hasina smartly balanced Indian and Chinese has capitalised big time on Bangladesh's economic vulnerability to expand its footprint in South China, through its tried and tested debt diplomacy, exploits vulnerabilities across the world, and also in the Indian Ocean Region, which New Delhi considers its strategic loans to Bangladesh are estimated at $6.1 billion, according to a 2023 AidData report. The loans are primarily for Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects such as the Padma Bridge, the construction of the Payra Port, and coal-fired power plants. For a developing country whose economy is in tatters, these loans are comes amid the fact that China is the fourth-largest source of foreign loans in Bangladesh, according to a report by the Dhaka-based Prothom March this year, China lent $2.1 billion to Bangladesh. Even before Hasina's ouster, in 2024, Bangladesh had sought a $5 billion soft loan from China to ease pressure on its dollar reserves, but the finalisation remains Reuters reported earlier this year that China would consider Bangladesh's requests to lower interest rates on Chinese loans, and it did. China extended repayment terms from 20 years to 30 years, easing immediate pressure on Bangladesh, reported the Dhaka-based Daily NEXUS HAS A MEMBER FROM WEST ASIAAmid the geopolitical tussle among South Asian neighbours, a West Asian player is stirring the situation deepening engagement with Bangladesh adds a fresh layer to India's July 2025, Haluk Gorgun, the chief of Ankara's defence industries, held talks with Yunus, aiming to establish defence industrial zones in Chittagong and Narayanganj, building on earlier drone exports to military outreach, combined with the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency's humanitarian aid for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and growing trade engagements, signal a broader alignment in the nexus with Pakistan and Turkey's economic ties with Bangladesh remain modest, its growing footprint on India's eastern borders must be an uncomfortable reality for New without Turkey, the convergence of China, Pakistan and Bangladesh interests would be concerning for India."There is a possible convergence of interests we can talk about between China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh that may have implications for India's stability and security dynamics," CDS General Chauhan said at the ORF event, according to a report in The Indian according to a PTI report, blamed the economic distress in these countries for allowing "outside powers" to leverage their influence, which could "create vulnerabilities for India".India is faced with a new reality in its neighbourhood. While the western front was always a concern, the eastern front has now become a playground for forces that aren't on friendly terms with it.- EndsTune InMust Watch
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Gaza ceasefire talks: Displacement is not peace
Written by Sujata Ashwarya Even as ceasefire talks continue in Doha, the bombs keep falling on Gaza. On July 10, Israeli airstrikes reportedly killed 82 Palestinians, pushing the death toll since October 2023 beyond 55,000. The vast majority of Gaza's population has been displaced, and much of the enclave lies in ruins. While diplomats speak of 'phased withdrawals' and 'hostage exchanges,' the war's deeper tragedy is unfolding on another scale: The erasure of a people's presence from their homeland under the guise of humanitarian planning. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's latest proposal, endorsed by Israel's security cabinet, outlines the full military capture of Gaza, indefinite control over its territory, and the creation of a so-called humanitarian city on the ruins of Rafah. Under this plan, Israeli forces would control the perimeter of the site and initially relocate some 6,00,000 Palestinians, primarily those already displaced in the Al-Mawasi area, into the zone. Eventually, the entire population of Gaza would be concentrated there. Israeli officials have openly linked this relocation to a broader emigration scheme, described by one as something that 'will happen', raising serious concerns that this so-called humanitarian arrangement is in fact a staging ground for mass displacement. This is not the language of peace. It is the architecture of a controlled displacement. While the Israeli government frames its intentions as voluntary relocation, prominent human rights lawyers and legal scholars have called it what it is: Forced transfer, which is both illegal under international law and morally indefensible. As Michael Sfard, a leading Israeli human rights lawyer, put it plainly: 'It is all about population transfer… in preparation for deportation outside the Strip.' In the background, the rhetoric of Prime Minister Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump hints at a shared vision for Gaza that stretches beyond ceasefire deals. Trump's earlier proposal to transform Gaza into a 'Riviera of the Middle East' has, within months, evolved into open discussions of third-country resettlement for Palestinians — an idea that has been openly embraced by far-right Israeli leaders. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has categorically rejected any withdrawal from the territory Israel has 'conquered', explicitly linking military occupation with expansionist goals in both Gaza and the West Bank. Meanwhile, efforts to negotiate a 60-day pause in hostilities, mediated by Qatar, are inching forward. The terms under discussion include phased hostage releases, expanded humanitarian access, and Israeli military withdrawals from parts of Gaza. But the core impasse remains: Hamas demands a permanent ceasefire and full withdrawal, while Netanyahu insists on Hamas's unconditional surrender and removal. In other words, both sides continue to speak past one another while civilians are crushed between ruin and rhetoric. This is not to excuse Hamas. Its October 7 cross-border attack, which killed civilians and triggered the current war, was a destructive act that has only deepened Palestinian suffering. The group has not only endangered Israeli lives but has also placed Palestinians in Gaza in a double bind, using them as human shields in wartime and as political leverage in negotiations. Yet Hamas's actions cannot justify the obliteration of Gaza, nor should they be used to obscure the underlying realities of occupation, blockade, and dispossession that long preceded this war. What is at stake is more than ceasefire logistics. The current moment risks hardening a framework in which Palestinian existence is contained and relocated rather than recognised and restored. A humanitarian pause that simply reorders the geography of displacement is not peace. A corridor controlled by foreign troops is not sovereignty. And a camp built on the ruins of Rafah is not a future. For decades, Palestinians have demanded something very simple and very difficult: The right to live freely in their homeland. That demand has been undermined not only by Israel's policies but also by a global order willing to look away when the language of security is used to justify siege and expulsion. The international community, including India, must reject any diplomatic framework that seeks to normalise permanent displacement or indefinite occupation. There can be no durable solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict without recognising the Palestinian right to remain on their land and live free from forced displacement. Ceasefires are essential to ending violence. They may bring temporary relief, but they do not dismantle the structures that sustain it or substitute for justice. If the talks in Qatar are to lead anywhere meaningful, they must move beyond preserving Israel's military objectives and confront what has been lost by the Palestinians. What is unfolding in Gaza cannot be separated from the pressures and dispossession faced by Palestinians in the West Bank. Any agreement that ignores this shared reality risks becoming a cover for entrenching injustice. The goal cannot be to manage Palestinian displacement. It must be brought to an end. A just resolution of the Palestinian question is not a threat to Israeli security. It is the surest path to it. The writer is a Professor in the Centre for West Asian Studies (Middle Eastern), Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Kishor Barman new panchayat, higher education minister of Tripura, ET Education
Advt Agartala, Kishor Barman , who was sworn in as a cabinet minister in the Manik Saha-led Tripura government on July 3, has been assigned three key portfolios - panchayat , higher education and general administration (political), a top official said on three departments were previously held by the chief minister."In pursuance of the provisions of Rule 5 of the executive business of the government of Tripura, the Governor of Tripura, on advice of the Chief Minister, has been pleased to allocate three departments to Kishor Barman. The departments include Panchayat, Higher education and General Administration (GA), Political", Chief Secretary J K Singha said in a Barman's induction and portfolio allocation, the cabinet has reached its full strength of 11 ministers and a minister of who also serves as the state BJP's general secretary, was elected from Nalchar constituency in Sepahijala district in the 2023 Assembly polls.
