Gaza airstrike targeted Hamas military wing leader, Israel says

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Friday targeted the leader of Hamas ’ military wing, Israeli officials said, but it wasn't immediately clear if Izz al-Din al-Haddad was killed or injured.

Hamas did not immediately acknowledge or comment on the strike.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said an airstrike carried out by the military Friday evening targeted al-Haddad, the leader of Hamas’ Qassam brigades.

There were at least two Israeli strikes Friday evening in Gaza City, one of which Israel said targeted al-Haddad. One strike targeted a residential building and another a vehicle. Seven people were killed and dozens of others wounded, according to health officials in the Palestine Red Crescent Society’s Saraya Field Hospital and Shifa hospital, where the casualties were taken

In a statement, Netanyahu and Katz said that al-Haddad was “one of the architects” of the Oct. 7 attack.

Gaza has seen near-daily Israeli fire despite a fragile ceasefire agreement reached in October. More than 850 people have been killed since then, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The Health Ministry is part of Gaza’s Hamas-run government, but staffed by medical professionals who maintain and publish detailed records, viewed as generally reliable by the international community.

Netanyahu and Katz threatened that Israel will continue to work against all those who took part in the Oct. 7 attack, in which militants killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Over 72,700 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its offensive in response to Hamas’ 2023 attack.

“Sooner or later, Israel will reach you,” the statement read.

Palestinian citizens reported more airstrikes that followed the one that targeted al-Haddad. It was not immediately clear what the Israeli military was targeting.

Since the shaky ceasefire was reached, both Israel and Hamas have traded accusations of violations. Israel has targeted Hamas members inside the coastal enclave, the last of whom was the son of Hamas’ lead negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya.

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Ezzidin reported from Cairo.