The head of Hamas’s military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza last month, the Israeli military said on Thursday, a day after the group’s political leader was assassinated in Tehran.
Deif is believed to have been one of the masterminds of the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7th, which triggered the Gaza war.
“The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] announces that on July 13th, 2024, IDF fighter jets struck in the area of Khan Younis, and following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike,” the military said.
Hamas neither confirmed nor denied the killing of Deif, but one official, Ezzat Rashaq, said any word on deaths of its leaders was its responsibility alone.
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“Unless either of them [the Hamas political and military leadership] announces it, no news published in the media or by any other parties can be confirmed,” Mr Rashaq said. The Israeli announcement came as crowds gathered in the Iranian capital for the funeral procession of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh.
Iran and Hamas have blamed Haniyeh’s killing on Israel, which has neither denied nor confirmed a role in the assassination. It did however confirm it killed a senior commander of the Lebanese Hizbullah movement in Beirut on Tuesday.
Hizbullah and Hamas are backed by Iran. The latest killings have raised concern of a further escalation in hostilities in the Middle East, with threats of revenge against Israel, which has said it does not seek regional war but that it would respond forcefully to any attack.
On Thursday, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Haniyeh’s death would not weaken the group’s fighters in Gaza.
“Despite the crime, Hamas remains strong and the confrontation in Gaza is continuing,” he said.
But his death was the latest in a series that has targeted the group’s leaders. Haniyeh’s deputy, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed in a drone strike in Beirut in January. In March, Israel said it had killed Marwan Issa, Deif’s deputy.
The United States confirmed Issa’s death in an Israeli operation. Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied his death.
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Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said Deif’s death was a milestone in Israel’s goal of destroying Hamas’s military wing, known as Al-Qassam Brigades.
“Hamas is disintegrating,” Mr Gallant said on X. “Hamas terrorists may either surrender or they will be eliminated.”
One of Hamas’s most dominant figures, Deif rose through the group’s ranks over 30 years, developing its network of tunnels and its bomb-making expertise.
He has topped Israel’s most wanted list for decades, having been held personally responsible for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings. Scores of Palestinians were killed in the air strike that killed him, medics in Gaza say.
The other alleged mastermind of the October 7th attack, Yahya Sinwar, is still believed to be directing military operations, possibly from bunkers beneath Gaza, while playing a leading role in indirect negotiations with Israel for a prisoner swap deal. But now on 300 days into the in Gaza, hopes for a hostage deal and ceasefire have dimmed.
The war erupted when militants led by Hamas stormed southern Israel on October 7th, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking about 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 39,400 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the subsequent Israeli offensive. The ministry does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its fatality reports.
Israel has lost 329 soldiers in Gaza and says around a third of the Palestinian dead are fighters.
On Thursday, the Israeli military said it struck against dozens of Hamas targets in Gaza, including fighters and infrastructure. At least 13 people had been killed in the Israeli bombardments across the enclave, Gaza medics said.
An Israeli missile that hit a vehicle at the entrance of Al-Maghazi district in central Gaza killed six people and five more were killed in a strike on a house in nearby Nusseirat, medics said, while an air strike in Gaza City killed two others.
East of Al-Maghazi, residents said tanks were firing as they tried to push deeper into the area.
Earlier, Israeli authorities released 15 Palestinians whom it had detained in the past months in Gaza. The men arrived for treatment at a Gaza hospital, complaining of abuse during their detention. Israel denies torture and is investigating suspected abuse of detainees. – Reuters