local medics and witnesses said. Israel's military and Shin Bet security service said buildings that served as a hideout for Odeh were targeted after his movements were tracked for several months. On Wednesday, Hamas confirmed that Odeh had been killed, along with his wife and two of his children. Despite the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreed in October, violence in Gaza has continued on a near-daily basis. Tuesday's strike hit the upper three floors of the al-Kayali building in the centre of Gaza City, where streets were busy with shoppers ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. Rescue teams rushed to the scene of the strikes but struggled to reach the upper floors because of the scale of the damage and congestion in the area.

Witnesses said at least five missiles struck the building almost simultaneously from different directions. One resident said he heard the sound of a helicopter hovering overhead before the attack. Footage from the scene showed ambulances and civil defence crews searching through the damaged building as crowds gathered nearby. A statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet said: "As part of the joint operation by the IDF and Shin Bet to eliminate the terrorist Mohammed Odeh, several buildings in the heart of Gaza City that served as a hideout for him were attacked, after months of intelligence surveillance in order to track his movements and the movements of his assistants in the organisation."

They added that they had also struck "a nearby apartment belonging to a Hamas terrorist who raided on October 7 and was part of Odeh's circle of assistants", referring to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza. A local Hamas source later told the BBC on Tuesday that Odeh and his wife had been killed. (BBC)