Hamas army chief killed in air strike, Israel says

Israel’s army says it has confirmed that Hamas’s army chief Mohammed Deif was killed in an Israeli air strike within the Gaza Strip final month.

Deif was focused within the strike on a compound within the Khan Younis space on 13 July. Hamas is but to verify his demise.

Israel says Deif was one of many figures liable for planning the 7 October assaults in southern Israel through which 1,200 individuals had been killed and 251 taken hostage.

On Wednesday, Hamas political chief Ismael Haniyeh was killed throughout a go to to Iran. Israel has not commented on his demise instantly.

In a press release on Thursday, the Israeli army mentioned that “following an intelligence evaluation, it may be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eradicated” within the 13 July strike.

Gaza’s Hamas-run well being authorities mentioned on the time that the air strike had killed greater than 90 individuals, however denied that Deif was among the many lifeless.

Deif was extensively seen because the second-ranking Hamas official in Gaza, behind Yahya Sinwar, the group’s chief within the territory.

Israel’s Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, mentioned the demise of Deif is “a big milestone” within the dismantling of Hamas.

“This operation displays the truth that Hamas is disintegrating, and that Hamas terrorists might both give up or they are going to be eradicated,” he added.

Mohammed Deif was appointed head of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the army arm of the Hamas motion, in 2002.

For many years he is been seen as one in all Israel’s most wished males – and survived a reported seven assassination makes an attempt.

Stories in Israeli and Palestinian media say that Deif was born in Gaza’s Khan Yunis refugee camp in 1965, when the territory was occupied by Egypt.

As a younger man within the Nineteen Eighties, he joined Hamas and rapidly rose to prominence.

Israel accused him of planning and supervising bus bombings which killed tens of Israelis in 1996, and of involvement within the seize and killing of three Israeli troopers within the mid-Nineteen Nineties.

Deif can also be recognized to have helped engineer the development of tunnels which have allowed Hamas fighters to enter Israel from Gaza.

In 2014, Israel tried to kill Deif with an air strike on a home within the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza, which killed Deif’s spouse, Widad, and their toddler son, Ali. Israel thought it had killed Deif, too, however he was not within the constructing on the time.

In the course of the present battle, Deif is believed to have directed Hamas’ army operations from inside underground tunnels inside Gaza.

Israel’s affirmation of Deif’s demise comes on the finish of a turbulent week within the Israel-Gaza battle, which has stoked fears of a broader regional struggle.

On Saturday, 12 Israeli youngsters and younger individuals had been killed after a rocket fell on a soccer discipline within the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Lebanon-based Hezbollah, saying they might pay “a heavy worth”.

On Tuesday, Israel retorted with air strike on Beirut which killed senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, in addition to 4 others, together with two youngsters.

Hours later, Hamas’s political chief Ismael Haniyeh was killed in a strike on a constructing he was staying in throughout a go to to Iran’s capital, Tehran.