Jerusalem —
Despite a fragile US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza, Israel carried out strikes on Gaza City targeting Hamas’ most senior military leader, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, according to a joint statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz.
The Israeli strikes killed at least seven people, with more than 50 others injured and taken to Al-Shifa Hospital, according to the emergency services in Gaza. It was not immediately clear if al-Haddad was one of the dead.
Israel accused al-Haddad of being responsible for and one of the “architects” behind the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, and for holding hostages in the attack’s aftermath. Israel also accused al-Haddad of refusing “to implement the agreement led by US President (Donald) Trump for Hamas to disarm and for the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.”
Emergency services in Gaza said Israel struck a residential building in the al-Rimal neighborhood near Gaza City on Friday afternoon, before a second strike targeted a car on a nearby street.
