Israeli military says it killed Hamas chief Mohammed Deif in Gaza last month

 

''Israeli military says it killed Hamas chief Mohammed Deif in Gaza last month''

In recent weeks Israeli officials said they had indications their strike was successful but were not able to confirm that he was killed until now.

The strike targeting Deif in Khan Younis on July 13 hit a designated humanitarian zone, killing at least 90 Palestinians. Footage from the Al-Mawasi displacement camp showed bodies in the street and destroyed tents.

An elusive and powerful figure, Deif is understood to be one of the architects of the October 7 attacks. He led the Palestinian militant group’s armed wing for more than two decades.

Israel has repeatedly stated that one of its main war aims is to eliminate Hamas in Gaza. Deif’s death would make him the highest-ranking Hamas military official killed in the strip since the start of the war more than nine months ago.

Israel says it has killed or captured half of Hamas’s commanders and more than 14,000 combatants since the war began. However, there are clear signs of the group’s resurgence in parts of the strip previously cleared by Israeli forces, who devastated large swathes of the area in the process.

Israeli troops have been drawn back to these previously cleared parts of the territory, fighting pitched battles with Hamas units who were previously declared dismantled.

Meanwhile, the group’s top leadership are likely to have had their communications compromised by the heavy bombardment, according to experts, with units operating more autonomously in their severely degraded form, and employing guerrilla tactics, such as laying booby traps and staging ambushes.