The Israeli military said on Thursday that Mohammed Deifthe head of Hamas’ military wing, was murdered last month in the event of an air raid.
Deif was seen as one of the main militants behind the October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza and left more than 1,200 dead. About 250 others were captured.
It was also believed that the soldier had escaped or survived multiple assassination attempts and had not been seen in public for years.
The announcement by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) comes nearly two weeks after Israel launched an attack in southern Gaza, targeting Deif and Hamas’s top Gaza official, Yahya Sinwar. At the time, Israeli forces did not confirm whether the July 13 attack had killed either official.
Hamas has claimed that Deif survived last month’s attack and did not immediately comment on the IDF’s confirmation of the death, Hamas said. Associated Press report. According to the news agency, Sinwar is believed to still be hiding in Gaza.
“Muhammad Deif, the ‘Osama Bin Laden of Gaza’, was eliminated on 13.07.24,” said Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant wrote on thursday on the social media platform X. “This is an important milestone in the process of dismantling Hamas as the military and administrative authority in Gaza, and in achieving the goals of this war.”
Gallant added that the strikes were carried out “accurately and professionally.”
At least 90 Palestinians were killed in the July 13 attacks, local health officials said.
The confirmation of Deif’s death comes just over a day after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike in Tehran while visiting for the inauguration of Iran’s new president. The country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed revenge after Haniyeh’s death, pushing the region closer to all-out war.
The AP and other points of sale said death was reported by Hamas and Iran. Israel has not claimed responsibility, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made defiant remarks after the news, saying the IDF is achieving its war goals.
Israel’s war with Hamas has continued in Gaza for nearly 10 months, killing some 39,480 Palestinians and wounding more than 91,100, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. More than 80 percent of Gaza’s population has been forced from their homes and forced into tent camps with limited access to food, water and medical supplies.
Deif has headed Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, since the 1990s. He led the group in several suicide bombings against Israelis and helped build a stockpile of rockets to attack Israel, AP reported.
The Associated Press contributed.
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