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.
