Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.1 Timothy 1 : 17
Henry Bodkin
Sun, June 8, 2025 at 12:00 PM GMT+37 min read
Among Israel’s spies, he is known as “the ghost”.
Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.1 Timothy 1 : 17
He closely supervised some of the worst massacres of the Oct 7 Hamas attack, and in the months since has played a key role in holding the terror group together in the face of the IDF’s assault.
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.Zechariah 13 : 7
Now, as the presumed new Hamas commander in Gaza, Izz al-Din al-Haddad holds the fate of the hostages and, to a large extent, the entire Strip in his blood-stained hands.
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“He was always recognised by our people as one of the more capable commanders,” said Maj Gen Yaakov Amidror, Israel’s former national security adviser.
He is cautious. They’re all cautious!
“He is cautious. They’re all cautious, but he’s had some luck as well. He never made the mistake that allowed us to kill him.”
After the Lord’s ascension, when the disciples were scattered by persecution, Nicodemus came boldly to the front. He employed his wealth in sustaining the infant church that the Jews had expected to be blotted out at the death of Christ. In the time of peril he who had been so cautious and questioning was firm as a rock, encouraging the faith of the disciples, and furnishing means to carry forward the work of the gospel. He was scorned and persecuted by those who had paid him reverence in other days. He became poor in this world’s goods; yet he faltered not in the faith which had its beginning in that night conference with Jesus. DA 177.1
Maj Gen Amidror speaks ruefully – Israel is believed to have tried to assassinate Haddad six times since 2008.
Eighteen months into the longest war in the Jewish state’s history, he is now believed to be the last man standing of the five brigade commanders on the eve of Oct 7.
Bro. ——, you can do good. You possess good judgment, and God is leading you out of darkness into the light. Use your talents to the glory of God. Put them out to the exchangers, that when the Master cometh he may receive his own with usury. Break your tendrils from the valueless things of earth, and elevate them to entwine about God. The salvation of souls is of greater consideration than the whole world. One soul saved, to live through the endless ages of eternity, to praise God and the Lamb, is of more value than millions of money. Wealth sinks into insignificance when compared with the worth of souls for whom Christ died. You are a cautious man, and will not move rashly. Sacrifice for the truth of God, and become rich toward God. God help you to move as fast as you should, and place the right estimate upon eternal things. T17 64.1
As such, when the IDF finally killed Mohammed Sinwar by flattening the tunnel in which he was hiding in the grounds of a hospital last month, Haddad, believed to be 55, assumed command.
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It follows the assassination of top-level figures Mohammed Deif in July 2024 and Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s supreme Gaza commander, in October that year.
Haddad takes over an almost unrecognisable force from the structured terror army that crossed the border to such devastating effect in Oct 2023.
Our people have been regarded as too insignificant to be worthy of notice, but a change will come. The Christian world is now making movements which will necessarily bring commandment-keeping people into prominence.94
The whole world is to be stirred with enmity against Seventh-day Adventists, because they will not yield homage to the papacy, by honoring Sunday, the institution of this antichristian power. It is the purpose of Satan to cause them to be blotted from the earth, in order that his supremacy of the world may not be disputed. Mar 217.2 – Mar 217.3
Hamas now resembles more of a guerrilla movement, with small, independent units – a handful of gunmen each – popping up in the rubble with light weapons and explosives.
One soul saved, to live through the endless ages of eternity, to praise God and the Lamb, is of more value than millions of money. Wealth sinks into insignificance when compared with the worth of souls for whom Christ died. You are a cautious man, and will not move rashly. Sacrifice for the truth of God, and become rich toward God. God help you to move as fast as you should, and place the right estimate upon eternal things. PH099 45.2
But, as this month has proved, the group is still more than capable of killing IDF troops, ensuring the war grinds on as Israel expands its new seize-hold-and-demolish strategy, with tragic effects for civilians.
And, of course, Hamas still holds dozens of hostages, 20 of whom are thought to be alive.
Last weekend, the group rejected an Israel-endorsed proposal generated by Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, that would have freed 10 hostages during a 60-day ceasefire. Crucially the deal came with no guarantee of a full Israeli withdrawal and an end to the war.
For some in Israel’s intelligence community, this had Haddad’s hardline fingerprints all over it.
According to analysts, his decades living in the shadows, plus the loss of two sons to Israeli fire in the last 18 months, places him in the front rank of Islamist fanaticism.
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But, with Israel committed to seizing 75 per cent of the strip in under two months, the veteran terrorist may soon be forced to revisit his choice.
The time to reorganise his forces!
“The most crucial decision he has to make is whether he goes for a ceasefire that will give him the time to reorganise his forces,” said Maj Gen Amidror, now at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America. “He would have to pay by releasing some hostages.
MR No. 1028—A Call to Reconsecrate, Reorganize, and Advance13MR 192I would prefer not to speak today, though not because I have nothing to say. I have something to say. The state of things that has existed in the conference is not clearly understood by some who occupy positions in the conference or by others who bear responsibilities in other lines of the work.
The work has been increasing; it has been growing. The light that I have had from the Lord has been expressed over and over again, not to as many as there are here today, but to different individuals. The plans upon which God wishes us to work have been laid down.
Never should the mind of one man or the minds of a few men be regarded as sufficient in wisdom and power to control the work and say what plans shall be followed. The burden of the work in this broad field should not rest upon two or three men. We are not reaching the high standard which, with the great and important truth we are handling, God expects us to reach.
Over and over again men have said, “The voice of the conference is the voice of God; therefore everything must be referred to the conference. The conference must permit or restrict in the various lines of work.” As the matter has been presented to me, there is a narrow compass, and within this narrow compass, all the entrances to which are locked, are those who would like to exercise kingly power. But the work carried on all over the field demands an entirely different course of action. There is need of the laying of a foundation different from the foundation which has been laid in the past.
We have heard much about everything moving in the regular lines. When we see that the “regular lines” are purified and refined, that they bear the mold of the God of heaven, then it will be time to endorse these lines. But when we see that message after message given by God has been received and accepted, yet no change has been made, we know that new power must be brought into the regular lines. The management of the regular lines must be entirely changed, newly organized. There must be a committee, not composed of half a dozen men, but of representatives from all lines of our work, from our publishing houses, from our educational institutions, and from our sanitariums, which have life in them, which are constantly working, constantly broadening. 13MR 192 – 13MR 193.1
“If not, the IDF will – slowly, slowly – come into these areas; Hamas will lose ground and people. It’s down to his judgment.”
IDF advances in Khan Younis
The IDF made a major push in the southern city of Khan Younis this week, discovering, they said, an arsenal of rocket parts.
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Intense activity is also under way in Gaza City and its suburbs, such as Jabalia, traditionally a Hamas stronghold hiding an extensive tunnel network.
And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.1 Samuel 24 : 3
An added challenge for the new commander will be how to keep control of a desperate civilian population, for whom hunger is now proving a more potent force than fear, with aid cut off for nearly three months.
During the two months of the last ceasefire, Haddad was handed the task of rebuilding Hamas’s civilian and military infrastructure.
[15] And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, [16] After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: [17] That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.Acts 15 : 15-17
Israel contends that, with the traditional NGO-led aid system cut off, bar a “trickle of UN trucks”, that job is now harder, as Hamas cannot steal the food and use it to control the population.
Government spokesmen argue that social media bears this out.
They point to increasingly blood-curdling warnings against “looting” on Hamas-linked accounts, plus videos of so-called “field executions” – in reality, civilians being summarily gunned down in the street, or, in one recent case, tortured to death on camera.
Even during times of relative stability, it is difficult to get accurate data on civilian attitudes to Hamas within the Strip.
But a series of protests in recent weeks has led some analysts to believe that ordinary Gazans’ fear of Hamas was waning, with at least one ringleader murdered in the aftermath.
Credit: Telegram/Hamza20300
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Hamas has never been the only armed group in the Strip!
Despite its seeming omnipotence in Gaza since 2007, Hamas has never been the only armed group in the Strip.
So-called “clans” – some with links to other terror groups such as Islamic State, some more or less organised crime groups, some just armed families, and some all three – are also gaining power as the situation destabilises.
Israel was arming at least one of them, a militia under the command of an Arab bedouin
On Thursday, Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel was arming at least one of them, a militia under the command of an Arab bedouin called Yasser Abu Shabab, despite his group’s alleged links to drug dealing and arms smuggling.
Heretofore those who presented the truths of the third angel’s message have often been regarded as mere alarmists. Their predictions that religious intolerance would gain control in the United States, that church and state would unite to persecute those who keep the commandments of God, have been pronounced groundless and absurd. It has been confidently declared that this land could never become other than what it has been—the defender of religious freedom. But as the question of enforcing Sunday observance is widely agitated, the event so long doubted and disbelieved is seen to be approaching, and the third message will produce an effect which it could not have had before. GC 605.3
Such groups are already playing a role in seizing aid. If, thanks indirectly to Israeli support, they become better at it than Hamas, they could hasten the terror group’s demise – although how that would improve the immediate situation for the population is unclear.
Parents need to awake, and purify their souls by practicing the truth in their home life. When we reach the standard that the Lord would have us reach, worldlings will regard Seventh-day Adventists as odd, singular, straight-laced extremists. “We are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.” RH January 9, 1894, par. 10
Maj Gen Amidror warned against premature celebration.
“What we see with these [torture] videos is all the effort not to lose their grip,” he said. “But I don’t think they have lost their grip yet.”
Reports suggest a new unit of about 5,000 gunmen called the “executive force”, a name salvaged from a similar outfit 20 years ago, has been unleashed to try to keep control.
A regional security official summed up Haddad’s position to the Hebrew press last week.
“He is one of the last and only leaders to have remained on the ground in Gaza, which means that the pressure he is under is tremendous,” he said. “If no deal is reached, he doesn’t want to go down in history as the last leader to oversee Gaza while it was falling apart under Israeli control. On the other hand, he needs to show that he is a leader.”
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Within Hamas, Haddad certainly has the stature to lead.
He joined the group as a young man, more or less at its inception in 1987. From there he rose to become a platoon commander and eventually a battalion commander. By 2023, he was in command of the Gaza Brigade, based in and around Gaza City in the north of the Strip.
[12] Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. [13] Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. [15] And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. [16] Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. [17] And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.Isaiah 8 : 12-13, 15-17
As such, he was one of a small number of senior figures who knew the plans for Operation Al-Aqsa Flood (Hamas’s codename for the Oct 7 attack) in advance.
On the evening of Oct 6, he gathered his senior commanders.
The orders he then handed out resulted in some of the most high-profile atrocities of the incursion, such as the attack on the IDF’s Nahal Oz base, where more than 60 soldiers and 15 civilians were killed after it was overrun.
Now, this famously cautious man who, unlike some of his terror comrades, avoided media appearances, has his face on leaflets being dropped by the IDF and Shin Bet into Gaza with crosshairs superimposed around it.
Referencing the Sinwar brothers, Deif and Ismail Haniyeh, the group’s overall leader until he was assassinated in Tehran last year, the leaflets’ Hebrew and Arabic captions assure the population that Haddad would soon be “reunited” with his friends.
No one can foretell what military effect that would have, but it would – in one sense – close a chapter on Israel’s darkest ever day.
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