Mohammed Deif, the chief of the group’s military wing, was eliminated in a strike in Khan Yunis last month, the IDF has claimed
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has confirmed that it killed a senior Hamas commander in a strike on Gaza more than two weeks ago. The announcement came after the political leader of the Palestinian group, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in a rocket attack in Iran.
In a statement on Thursday, the IDF said Mohammed Deif, the commander of Hamas’ military wing and the second-ranking official of the group in the Palestinian enclave, was eliminated in an airstrike in the southern Gazan city of Khan Yunis on July 13.
Shortly after the same strike, the IDF claimed that Rafa Salameh, the leader of Hamas forces in Khan Younis, had been killed. However, the Israeli military said it had not been able to confirm the death of Deif until now.
A video posted on social media by the IDF showed a missile obliterating a cluster of buildings where Deif was apparently sheltering.
Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied Deif’s death. The airstrike was one of several that pounded Khan Younis on July 13, killing at least 90 people and injuring up to 300 others, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
According to the Israeli military, Deif joined Hamas during the First Intifada, a period of intense protests, riots, and violence that rocked Israel and the Palestinian territories between 1987 and the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. Deif rose rapidly in Hamas’ ranks, and “directed, planned, and carried out numerous terrorist attacks” against the Jewish state, the IDF claimed.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant went as far as to call Deif “the Osama Bin Laden of Gaza,” portraying his demise as “a significant milestone in the process of dismantling Hamas as a military and governing authority” in the enclave.
The IDF’s announcement came a day after Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in an apparent bombing in the Iranian capital of Tehran. Iran and Hamas have both accused Israel of orchestrating the attack, while West Jerusalem has stuck to its usual policy of refusing to confirm or deny extraterritorial assassinations.
The killing of Haniyeh further ratcheted up tensions between Israel and Iran, with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowing to exact revenge on Israel. According to a New York Times report, Khamenei has ordered a direct attack on Israel in response, although it is unclear when this attack will be launched or what form it will take.
