Rabat – Israeli forces have confirmed killing Hamas commander Mohammed Deif in a July 13 airstrike targeting him in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
The strike, which hit tents housing displaced individuals in al-Mawasi, a designated humanitarian safe zone, resulted in more than 90 fatalities and over 300 injuries.
The Israeli air raid was one of the deadliest in the ongoing war, provoking widespread international condemnation.
Initial reports did not verify Deif’s presence among the casualties, and Hamas claimed he had evaded the attack. However, Israeli intelligence now asserts that Deif was indeed killed. Hamas has yet to confirm Israel’s claim.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant took to social media platform X on Thursday to celebrate Deif’s death, describing him as the “Osama Bin Laden of Gaza.”
“This is a significant milestone in the process of dismantling Hamas as a military and governing authority in Gaza, and in the achievement of the goals of this war,” his post reads.
Mohammed Deif, born Mohammed Masri in 1965 in the Khan Younis refugee camp, became involved with Hamas during the first Intifada in 1987.
He was a key figure in founding Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, in the 1990s.
On October 7, Hamas released a rare voice recording of Deif announcing the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation, saying it was a response to Israeli actions at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque.
On the same day, Deif, rarely seen or heard in public, declared on Hamas’s TV channel that the group’s actions were retaliation for Israeli crimes against Palestinians, the detention of Palestinian prisoners, and the appropriation of Palestinian lands.
“Today the rage of Al-Aqsa, the rage of our people and nation is exploding. Our mujahideen [fighters], today is your day to make this criminal understand that his time has ended,” he said.
