Mohammad Deif, the leader of the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, was targeted in an airstrike in the Khan Yunis area of southern Gaza, Israel’s Army Radio reported on Saturday.
It is unclear if Deif was hit in the strike, and his current status is unknown.
Army Radio correspondent Doron Kadosh reported that a security source noted that, as far as was known, no hostages were held at the scene of the strike. An additional two security sources reportedly stated that the attempted elimination of Deif occurred while the Hamas leader was above ground, as opposed to inside a tunnel.
Israeli media reported that Rafa Salama, the commander of Hamas’s Khan Yunis Brigade, was also a target of the Israeli strike.
Army Radio added that Deif and Salama had been hiding in a building near tents of displaced persons in the area.
In the wake of the strike, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head Ronen Bar convened an operational situation assessment, the Israeli state broadcaster, KAN, reported.
Other reports indicated a heavy IDF assault on terrorists operating in southern Gaza commenced on Saturday morning.
Over the last hours, the Israel Air Force dropped heavy bombs on terror targets in the Khan Yunis area as ground forces commenced tactical maneuvers in the area, Walla reported.
דיווחים פלסטיניים: עשרות הרוגים ופצועים בתקיפות צה”ל באזור המוואסי בח’אן יונס@Doron_Kadosh pic.twitter.com/VGx9TS8Sc2
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) July 13, 2024
Reports of civilian casualties
Some 20 people have been killed and over 120 others wounded in an Israeli attack on an area for displaced persons in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Y-Net cited Hamas radio as claiming.
Later, the Palestinian Authority state-run media outlet, Wafa, reported that over 50 had been killed and dozens others wounded as a result of IDF bombing in the Al-Mawasi area.
“The Israeli occupation army conducted a big massacre by bombarding the tent camps of the displaced in Khan Younis. The horrifying massacre killed and wounded more than 100 people, including members of the Civil Emergency Service,” the statement issued by the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said.
The IDF said that it would look into reports of dozens killed near Khan Yunis, according to Reuters.
A correspondent for the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen claimed that hospitals in the area were evacuating previously admitted patients to make room for fresh arrivals as a result of the IDF’s activities.
The IDF has yet to confirm operational activity in the area.
Who is Mohammad Deif?
Deif was born Mohammad Masri in 1965 in the Khan Yunis Refugee Camp, a short distance from where Israel conducted a strike in an attempt to eliminate the senior Hamas figure. He later became known as Mohammed Deif after joining Hamas during the first Intifada in 1987.
Hamas was not the first terror group that Deif became affiliated with, according to a 2014 article by the Washington Post. He was introduced to the Muslim Brotherhood as a teenager and reportedly deepened his connection with Islamist movements while studying at the Islamic University of Gaza.
Jacob Eriksson, a specialist in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the University of York, told France24 that “Deif” translates to “guest” and refers to his constant travel—a tactic used to survive Israeli attacks. However, the Washington Post suggested in 2014 that he took his name from a character he played during a university production.
Only two years after joining the terror group, Deif was arrested but spent only 16 months in detention, a Hamas source told Reuters.
Deif developed the group’s network of terror tunnels and developed his bomb-making expertise. Hamas sources claimed he lost an eye and sustained serious wounds in one leg in previous assassination attempts.
Having escaped numerous assassination attempts, Gazan fans dubbed him “the man with nine lives,” a play on the common saying that cats have nine lives.
Deif masterminded much of Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel – allowing terrorists to murder 1200 people and abduct over 250 more.
Omri Brinner, an Israel and Middle East analyst at the International Team for the Study of Security Verona told France24 that after October 7 “the most successful in the history of Palestinian resistance – [Deif’s] legacy will live forever. He can fail now, Israel can assassinate him now: his legacy will outlast him.”
Deif has been considered an international terrorist by the US since 2015.
This is a developing story.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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