GAZA STRIP — An Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Friday evening targeted Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the leader of Hamas' Qassam brigades, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said. It was not immediately clear whether al-Haddad was killed or injured in the strike.

At least two strikes hit Gaza City on Friday, one on a residential building and another on a vehicle. Seven people were killed and dozens of others wounded, according to health officials at Saraya Field Hospital and Shifa Hospital.

In a joint statement, Netanyahu and Katz said al-Haddad was one of the architects of the Oct. 7 attack, in which militants killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. They said Israel would continue to work against all those who took part in that attack.

The statement said al-Haddad was responsible for the murder, abduction, and injury of thousands of Israeli civilians and Israel Defense Forces soldiers, and that he had refused to disarm Hamas and demilitarize the Gaza Strip, making him an obstacle to a proposed Gaza peace deal. The statement read: "Sooner or later, Israel will reach you."

Hamas did not immediately acknowledge or comment on the strike targeting al-Haddad. The previous Hamas member targeted by Israel inside the coastal enclave was the son of Hamas' lead negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya.

Hundreds of people were living inside the residential building that was struck, Gaza civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Basel said. "The missile was fired without any pre-warning or notification," Basel said.

The airstrike occurred on the 78th anniversary of the Nakba, a day of remembrance for the estimated 750,000 Palestinians expelled from their homes during the 1948 war. Since a ceasefire agreement was reached in October, Gaza has seen near-daily Israeli fire, and Israel and Hamas have each accused the other of ceasefire violations. Despite the proposed Gaza peace plan, fighting has persisted in the enclave.

More than 850 people have been killed since the ceasefire was reached, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of Gaza's Hamas-run government and is staffed by medical professionals who maintain detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community. More than 72,700 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its offensive in response to Hamas' 2023 attack.