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 said in a joint statement that Haddad had been '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 centre of Gaza City, sparked a large fire. Rescue teams rushed to the scene but faced significant difficulties evacuating the wounded, witnesses said. One eyewitness told the BBC that a body and several injured people 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 said the vehicle may have been carrying Haddad after he had been seriously injured in the initial strike. Eyewitnesses reported that armed members of Hamas, dressed in civilian clothing, evacuated a severely wounded person through a side entrance and placed him in a vehicle. The vehicle was hit around 1.5km (0.9 miles) from the apartment block. A senior Israeli security official indicated that Haddad had been successfully targeted. The two-year-long Gaza war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, which resulted in significant casualties on both sides. Israel responded with a military campaign against Hamas, leading to a tragic toll of over 72,744 people killed according to the Gaza Health Ministry.