GAZA/JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH -- Hamas said Saturday in an official statement that it has held an election to choose its leader, but the result was not decided in the first round.

A second round of voting will be held "at a later date", the statement added.

Hamas confirmed on Saturday that Izz al-Din al-Haddad, commander-in-chief of its armed wing al-Qassam Brigades, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Friday.

Earlier on Saturday, the Israeli military and the domestic security agency Shin Bet confirmed in a joint statement that al-Haddad was killed in the Israeli airstrike on Gaza City on Friday.

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Meanwhile, two Palestinians were killed and five others injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting a civilian vehicle west of Gaza City, according to Palestinian security and medical sources.

Security sources told Xinhua that an Israeli drone fired at least one missile at the vehicle near al-Wahda Tower in the al-Nasr neighborhood, causing multiple casualties.

The Israeli military has not commented on the incident.

Gaza-based health authorities said hospitals across the Gaza Strip had received 13 bodies and 57 injured people over the past 48 hours.

In a press statement, the authorities said that since the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect on Oct 10, 2025, a total of 870 Palestinians had been killed and 2,543 others injured by Israeli fire.

The overall Palestinian death toll since Oct 7, 2023, has risen to 72,757, with 172,645 others wounded, according to the statement.

Hamas confirms death of military wing chief

On Saturday, Hamas confirmed Izz al-Din al-Haddad, commander-in-chief of its armed wing the al-Qassam Brigades, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Friday.

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The announcement was made by Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem in a video posted on Facebook.

According to Palestinian sources, hundreds of Palestinians attended al-Haddad's funeral on Saturday, with the procession starting from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Mosque in central Gaza City. Participants carried the bodies of al-Haddad, his wife and daughter through the streets, and chanted slogans denouncing the Israeli airstrike.

Al-Haddad, known by the nickname "Ghost of al-Qassam," was considered by Israel to be one of the most wanted figures. He had survived several previous assassination attempts, according to Israeli media.

Gaza-based Palestinian political analyst Ahed Ferwana told Xinhua that al-Haddad's death could have an operational impact on the group's field command.

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Meanwhile, Ferwana suggested that the timing of the Israeli airstrike could be linked to domestic political considerations in Israel, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "is attempting to bolster his standing" before a possible Knesset dissolution and in upcoming parliamentary elections.

Palestinian man killed in West Bank camp

In another development, a Palestinian man was killed by Israeli forces in a refugee camp in the northern West Bank on Saturday, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Ministry of Health said.

In a brief statement, the ministry said that Nour al-Din Fayyad, 34, died from a gunshot wound to the thigh sustained during an Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its medical teams treated a young man at the entrance to the camp, suffering from respiratory and cardiac arrest, after being shot in the thigh by Israeli soldiers.

Local sources and eyewitnesses reported that Fayyad attempted to enter the camp, home to more than 57,000 people, before Israeli soldiers opened fire and killed him.

There has been no official Israeli comment on the incident.