On Thursday, IDF spokesperson Effi Defrin was asked who was calling the shots in Hamas and he named al-Haddad. "He is in northern Gaza and I will not say any more," Defrin said.
Western Intelligence officials quoted in the Times' report said Haddad, who is the last senior member of Hamas to survive the war and Israel's targeted killings, was in Gaza City. He had survived at least six assassination attempts and was among the more prominent leaders of the Hamas military wing.
Siegel described a time when Haddad appeared wearing a face mask and a woolen hat. "I understood he was concerned that some of the guards could be sources for Israeli intelligence.
Before Siegel's release, Haddad brought him a gift of chocolate to take to his wife and the two men walked together along the shoreline. "When he saw I was nervous, he said, "Be happy. You're going home."
An intelligence source who spoke with the New York Times said Haddad saw the resistance to Russia in Chechnya in the early 1990s as a model for Hamas to follow.
In the first war between the Muslim Republic and Russia, which lasted two years, the Russians did not achieve any of their military objectives and thousands of soldiers died.
Haddad is not likely to concede his demand for an end to the war and the withdrawal of IDF troops from the Strip.
