A Hamas official has confirmed to the BBC that Izz ad-Din al-Haddad, the commander of the group's armed wing, was killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on Friday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that Haddad was 'responsible for the murder, kidnapping, and injury of thousands of Israeli civilians and IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers.' Israel described him as 'one of the architects of the October 7 massacre.' The strike is the latest launched by Israel on Gaza despite a ceasefire with Hamas.
Three eyewitnesses told the BBC that a residential building known as Al-Mu'taz was struck by three missiles launched simultaneously from two separate directions, before a fleeing car was hit. The air strike, targeting the apartment block in the center of Gaza City, sparked a large fire. Rescue teams rushed to the scene but faced significant difficulties evacuating the wounded, witnesses said. One eyewitness reported that a body and several injured individuals had been removed from the building.
A second air strike, targeting a car seen leaving the scene, killed three people, according to eyewitnesses and a local source. Sources indicated that the vehicle may have been carrying Haddad after he had been seriously injured in the initial strike. Eyewitnesses said armed members of Hamas dressed in civilian clothing evacuated a severely wounded individual through a side entrance and placed him in a vehicle. Witnesses noted that the car was hit around 1.5km (0.9 miles) from the apartment block.
A senior Israeli security official stated that preliminary information indicated that Haddad had been successfully targeted. While the ceasefire in Gaza came into effect on October 10, Israel has conducted regular strikes across the Palestinian territory since then. Hamas has accused Israel of breaching ceasefire terms and attacking civilians, while the Israeli government maintains it has the right to target Hamas members. The two-year-long Gaza war was ignited by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in significant casualties on both sides.
Three eyewitnesses told the BBC that a residential building known as Al-Mu'taz was struck by three missiles launched simultaneously from two separate directions, before a fleeing car was hit. The air strike, targeting the apartment block in the center of Gaza City, sparked a large fire. Rescue teams rushed to the scene but faced significant difficulties evacuating the wounded, witnesses said. One eyewitness reported that a body and several injured individuals had been removed from the building.
A second air strike, targeting a car seen leaving the scene, killed three people, according to eyewitnesses and a local source. Sources indicated that the vehicle may have been carrying Haddad after he had been seriously injured in the initial strike. Eyewitnesses said armed members of Hamas dressed in civilian clothing evacuated a severely wounded individual through a side entrance and placed him in a vehicle. Witnesses noted that the car was hit around 1.5km (0.9 miles) from the apartment block.
A senior Israeli security official stated that preliminary information indicated that Haddad had been successfully targeted. While the ceasefire in Gaza came into effect on October 10, Israel has conducted regular strikes across the Palestinian territory since then. Hamas has accused Israel of breaching ceasefire terms and attacking civilians, while the Israeli government maintains it has the right to target Hamas members. The two-year-long Gaza war was ignited by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in significant casualties on both sides.
