Israel declares top Hamas man Deif dead
Israel's military chief of Hamas, Mohammed Deif, was reportedly killed in an Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip in mid-July, according to Israel's military. Deif, along with the late Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, was one of the masterminds behind Hamas' large-scale attack on Israel on October 7.
Israel has declared Mohammed Deif, the military chief of the Islamic terror organization Hamas, dead. Deif was reportedly killed in a massive air strike in the Gaza Strip in mid-July, according to the Israeli army. He was one of the key architects of the terror attack on Israel on October 7 and was the commander of the Kassam Brigades and the deputy of the Hamas chief in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.
The army's announcement comes a day after the killing of the Hamas foreign chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran. Iran and Hamas blame Israel for the act. Israel has not responded to the accusation and has only stated that anyone who attacks the country will pay a heavy price.
The army stated that Deif's death could be confirmed based on intelligence information. Fighter jets carried out a "precise, targeted strike against a facility where Mohammed Deif and the commander of the Khan Yunis Brigade of Hamas, Rafa Salama, were located" about two weeks ago, according to the statement.
Now, Yahya Sinwar is the last surviving senior leader of Hamas, which violently seized sole power in the Gaza Strip in 2007. It is believed that he has been hiding in the tunnel network under the coastal strip since the start of the war.
Israel had set a goal of capturing or killing Hamas chief Sinwar and his deputy Deif in its war in the Gaza Strip. In March, the army confirmed the killing of the third-highest Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Marwan Issa, in an air strike.
Deif and Sinwar were the main planners of the massacre in Israel on October 7 last year, in which around 1200 Israelis were killed and around 250 people were kidnapped to Gaza. The terror attack was the trigger for the war.
Many dead in attack on Deif
Last month, the Israeli military bombed a fenced-off object in the humanitarian zone between Khan Yunis and Al-Mawasi, which Israel said served as a base for Hamas terrorists. According to reports from the health authority controlled by Hamas, 90 people were killed and around 300 injured in the attack.
According to Israeli reports, commander Salama was also among the dead. A high-ranking military representative later told journalists in an online briefing that the army had extremely reliable intelligence that Deif and Salama were in the base at the time of the attack.
In May, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, requested several arrest warrants. Alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant, several Hamas leaders - including Sinwar and Deif - were also targeted. Khan is investigating crimes during the Gaza war.
Deif had survived numerous assassination attempts by Israel over the years. Until about six months ago, it was believed in the country that Deif had lost several limbs and had a multitude of physical disabilities. Until eventually, images emerged showing Deif with both arms and both legs.
In a air strike on a house in the Gaza Strip at the end of the Gaza war in 2014, his wife and young son were killed. Deif managed to escape.
Despite his history of survival against multiple assassination attempts, Deif, as a deaf individual, was reportedly killed in the Israeli air strike last month. The attack on the fenced-off object in the humanitarian zone resulted in the death of several individuals, including Commander Salama, according to Israeli reports.
