Mohammed Deif, the military chief of Hamas, was killed by an Israeli strike last month in the Khan Yunis area of southern Gaza, the Israeli military said on Thursday. The announcement was made the day after Isamil Haniyeh, the political leader of the militant group, was killed in Teheran.
"The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) announces that on July 13th, 2024, IDF fighter jets struck in the area of Khan Yunis, and following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike," the military said.
The military statement added,“Deif initiated, planned, and executed the October 7th massacre."
The announcement was made as people began to assemble in Tehran for Haniyeh's funeral.
Deif, one of Hamas' most powerful members, rose through the organization's ranks over thirty years, expanding its network of tunnels and honing its bomb-making abilities, according to AFP. For many years, he has been at the top of Israel's most wanted list, having been held accountable for the suicide bombing deaths of numerous Israelis.
A sizable crater was left by the alleged 2,000-pound (900-kg) bomb that was placed near the home where Deif and one of his deputies were thought to be hiding, according to AFP.
Deif, the head of Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, had been on the US list of "international terrorists" in 2015 and had been one of Israel's most wanted men for nearly thirty years.
According to AFP, the military claimed that Deif had worked with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza to carry out multiple attacks against Israel over the years. The military said, “During the war, he commanded Hamas's terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip by issuing commands and instructions to senior members of Hamas's military wing."
251 people were taken prisoner by Hamas during their attack, and 111 of them are still detained in Gaza, 39 of whom the military claims are dead. According to the Gaza health ministry, Israel's military response has killed 39,480 people since then. It does not say how many of those deaths were civilian casualties or militant deaths.
