Hamas Confirms Senior Commander Killed in Israeli Air Strike

A Hamas official has confirmed to the BBC that Izz ad-Din al-Haddad, 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 stated in a joint communiqué 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 in Gaza, despite an existing ceasefire with Hamas. Three eyewitnesses informed the BBC that a residential building known as Al-Mu’taz was hit by three missiles launched simultaneously from two separate directions, before a fleeing car was also struck. The air strike, which targeted the apartment block in central Gaza City, ignited a large fire. Rescue teams quickly arrived at the scene but encountered significant difficulties evacuating the wounded, according to witnesses. One eyewitness told the BBC that a body and several injured individuals had been removed from the building. A second air strike, targeting a car observed leaving the scene, resulted in the deaths of three people, according to eyewitnesses and a local source. Sources indicated that the vehicle may have been transporting Haddad after he had sustained serious injuries in the initial strike. Eyewitnesses and a local source reported that armed Hamas members, dressed in civilian clothing, evacuated a severely wounded person through a side entrance and placed him into a vehicle. Witnesses stated that the car was struck approximately 1.5km (0.9 miles) from the apartment block. A senior Israeli security official stated that preliminary information suggested Haddad had been successfully targeted. A ceasefire in Gaza came into effect on October 10, but Israel has conducted regular strikes across the Palestinian territory since that time. Hamas has repeatedly accused Israel of breaching the terms of the ceasefire and attacking civilians. The Israeli government maintains it has the right to target Hamas members. It, in turn, accuses Hamas of refusing to disarm, in breach of the ceasefire agreement. Meanwhile, US-led peace efforts have stalled since the start of the Iran war, with the latter phases of the plan yet to come into effect. The US announced the commencement of the second phase of the plan in January, envisioning the governance of Gaza by a transitional, technocratic administration alongside the demilitarisation and reconstruction of the territory. However, talks on disarmament remain deadlocked, while Hamas has since reactivated its police force and appears to be reasserting its authority. Netanyahu and Katz stated that Haddad had “refused to implement the agreement led by US President Trump to disarm Hamas and demilitarise the Gaza Strip”. They added: “We will continue to act forcefully and decisively against anyone who participated in the October 7 massacre”. The two-year-long Gaza war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. Israel responded by launching a military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, during which more than 72,744 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Of these, 857 have been killed since the ceasefire began, it reports.
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