Ra'ad Sa'ad

Ra'ad Sa'ad (; 1972 – 13 December 2025) was a Palestinian militant and senior commander in the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. Sa'ad joined Hamas in 2005, where he helped to develop the group's military strategy. While removed from his position as head of operations in 2021, Sa'ad was a major contributor to the initial attacks that lead to the Gaza war. After an initial failed assassination attempt in 2024, Israeli forces killed Sa'ad in a drone strike the following year.

Militant career Sa'ad was born in 1972, and joined Hamas in 2005. He participated in the First and Second Intifadas, and was imprisoned by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority. He was appointed the commander of Hamas's Gaza City brigade in 2005. He was responsible for arms manufacturing and building Hamas's rocket arsenal.

He founded the group's "military academy", and helped develop its military strategy, such as cross-border attacks, artillery usage, and urban warfare.

Prior to the outbreak of the Gaza war, Sa'ad was a political rival to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. He backed Nizar Awadallah against Sinwar during the 2021 Gaza political bureau elections, which Awadallah narrowly lost. During the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, Sa'ad was removed as Hamas's head of operations due to his perceived poor performance, and he was replaced by Mohammed Sinwar. By December 2025, he became Hamas's de facto chief of staff after much of its leadership was killed by Israel, with Israeli intelligence officials considering him the second-most senior Hamas military official. He played a large role in developing and adapting to military strategies and doctrines, such as guerrilla warfare, and was also responsible for replacing slain brigade commanders and training their replacements. He was close to Hamas military leader Izz al-Din al-Haddad, whom he assisted in directing daily military operations. No immediate confirmation of Sa'ad's status emerged. Multiple initial reports suggested he was likely killed, but it was later reported that he survived. Three Hamas members were killed alongside Sa'ad, including his aide and a low-ranking Hamas official. The Jerusalem Post reported that Sa'ad was targeted around an hour after he emerged from a tunnel, in which he had operated for months. The IDF later confirmed his death, saying that he "led Hamas's force buildup" and that his death would significantly hinder the group's efforts to rearm. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz called Sa'ad an architect of the 7 October attacks, and said that his killing was in response to an earlier explosion in southern Gaza that injured two IDF soldiers. Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, stated that the attack is a violation of the ceasefire.

Axios reported that the strike angered US officials, and that the US privately informed Netanyahu that it viewed the killing as a violation of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.