70 Palestinians killed and injured in Israeli raids. Gaza mourns a leader of the Qassam Brigades

13 Palestinians were killed and 57 others were injured during the past 24 hours, in Israeli raids, raising the toll of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip to 72,757 dead and 172,645 injured, since the start of the aggression on October 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The ministry explained that a number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, in light of the inability of ambulance and rescue crews to reach them, as the raids bombarded residential apartments in the Rimal neighborhood, which led to the outbreak of a large fire that prevented the arrival of ambulance crews.

Gaza mosques mourn Ezzedine al-Haddad

Mosques in the northern Gaza Strip announced the death of Izz al-Din al-Haddad, a commander of the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military  wing, on Saturday, a day after the Israeli army announced it had targeted him with airstrikes, according to Reuters.

Palestinian sources announced on Saturday that al-Haddad was killed along with his wife and daughter in the center of Gaza City, and Hamas has not issued any comment so far.

Who is Ezzedine Al-Haddad?

Ezz al-Din al-Haddad, known as "Abu Suhaib", has emerged as one of the most prominent commanders of the al-Qassam Brigades in recent years, especially after taking command of the Gaza City Brigade following the assassination of commander Bassem Issa in 2021.

Born in Gaza in 1970, al-Haddad rose through military ranks to become a member of the military council within Hamas, and survived several Israeli assassination attempts since 2009, and during the 2023 war, the Israeli army allocated a reward of $750,000 to reach him, and al-Haddad assumed additional leadership tasks after a series of assassinations against first-line commanders, including Mohammed al-Sinwar.

Reports indicate that Al-Haddad supervised the preparations for Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, and held a secret meeting on October 6, 2023, to issue execution orders, focusing on capturing the largest number of Israeli soldiers and documenting the incursions.

During the aggression on Gaza, Israeli forces raided his home in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood and targeted sites where he is believed to be holed up, and later appeared in an interview on the program "What Hides is Greater" in early 2025, revealing details about the planning and motives of the operation.

Widespread Attacks and Arrests in the West Bank

Israeli forces and settlers carried out a series of attacks on Friday evening, injuring 3 Palestinians and arresting others, in the occupied West Bank, and a young man was wounded by a settler's bullets in Hebron, according to the Red Crescent Society. 

Israeli forces stormed the town of Nahalin, raided homes and shops, and positioned themselves at the bridge and the main street, in Dheisheh camp, leading to clashes during which tear gas and stun grenades were fired.

Massive Settlement Plan: 60,000 New Units in the West Bank

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the Netanyahu government's intention to build 60,000 settlement units over the next three years, in a move aimed at "definitively erasing" the borders inside the West Bank.

Smotrich said that since 2022, the government has approved the "organization" of more than 100 settlement sites, calling on Netanyahu to adopt a plan to cancel the divisions of Areas A, B and C stipulated in the Oslo Accords.

Data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics indicates that there are 645 settlement sites in the West Bank until the end of 2025, inhabited by 778,567 settlers, 42.8% of whom are concentrated in the Jerusalem governorate.