Israel’s military announced on Thursday that it had killed Hamas' top military commander, Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in southern Gaza on July 13. The Palestinian group has yet to confirm his death.
“We can now confirm: Muhammed Deif was eliminated,” the Israeli military stated.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant compared Deif to “the Osama Bin Laden of Gaza,” calling his death “a significant milestone in the process of dismantling Hamas as a military and governing authority in Gaza.”
Gallant added, “Hamas terrorists may either surrender, or they will be eliminated. Israel’s defence establishment will pursue Hamas terrorists – both the planners and the perpetrators of the 07.10 massacre. We will not rest until this mission is accomplished,” he posted on X.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated that Hamas’s collapse was “closer than ever” following Deif’s death.
“We must not stop a moment before victory,” he wrote on X, adding that the Israeli military would continue to target the group’s leaders until “we destroy them all.”
Israeli opposition leaders also supported the news. Avigdor Liberman, head of Yisrael Beytenu, praised the military for the “killing of the mass-murderer Mohammed Deif” and described the strike as “evidence of our ability to face any threat.” Yesh Atid chair Yair Lapid called the operation an “unprecedentedly important military achievement.”
The attack in al-Mawasi, an Israeli-designated “safe zone” west of Khan Younis, resulted in at least 90 deaths and 300 injuries.
Israeli warplanes targeted tents housing displaced Palestinians and a water distillation unit. Images from the site showed Palestinians rescuing people from the rubble, with children and paramedics among the wounded.
The Israeli military claimed in a statement that it acted based on “precise intelligence” to target an area where “two senior Hamas terrorists” and additional fighters were hiding among civilians.
In a news conference, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the two Hamas officials targeted were Deif and senior Hamas commander Rafa Salama. He noted that it was not immediately clear if Salama was killed.
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