The Israeli military announced on Thursday that the Hamas military wing leader Mohammed Deif was killed in an airstrike on Gaza in July.
The statement came a day after Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas was killed in an attack in the Iranian capital, Tehran, which is suspected to have been carried out by Israel. The United States (U.S.) and the European Union (EU) consider Hamas a terrorist organization.
Israel believes Deif, the head of Hamas’ armed forces – the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades – and Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ top leader in the Gaza Strip, were the chief architects of the October 7th attack that resulted in the deaths of approximately 1.200 people in southern Israel, triggering the Israel-Hamas war. Sinwar is believed to still be hiding in Gaza.
Israel neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the attack in Tehran on Tuesday that killed Haniyeh. Hamas had stated that Deif survived the July attack in Gaza and had not yet commented on the Israeli military’s claims.
The killings of two high-ranking Hamas officials marked a significant victory for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had declared that Israel would not cease its campaign in Gaza until it had destroyed Hamas’ military capabilities.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant described the attack that killed Deif as a “significant milestone” in achieving the war’s objectives. “The results of this operation reflect that Hamas is an organization in disarray,” he wrote on X.
However, these assassinations risk bolstering Hamas’ position in ceasefire negotiations or causing it to abandon them entirely. Iran has vowed revenge for the attack on its territory, raising fears of a broader regional conflict.
Israel targeted Deif in the July 13th attack, striking a complex on the outskirts of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The military reported that another Hamas commander, Rafa Salama, was also killed in the strike.
A bomb believed to weigh 900 kilograms, created a massive crater around the house where Deif was allegedly hiding with one of his deputies. Over 90 people, including displaced civilians in nearby tents, were killed in the attack, according to Gaza health officials.
Deif was one of the founders of Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, in the 1990s and led the unit for decades. Under his command, it carried out numerous suicide bombings targeting Israelis in buses and cafes and developed an extensive arsenal of rockets capable of striking deep into Israel.
He had been on Israel’s most-wanted list for nearly three decades and was also listed as an “international terrorist” by the U.S. since 2015, Radio Slobodna Evropa writes.
E.Dz.
