The Israeli military announced on Thursday that Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif was killed in a strike in Khan Younis, a region south of Gaza, last month.
The army’s confirmation of Deif’s killing comes a day after the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which was announced by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hamas.
“The IDF (Israeli army) announces that on July 13, 2024, IDF warplanes attacked the area of Khan Younis, and following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was killed in the attack,” a military statement said.
“Deif initiated, planned and executed the October 7 massacre,” the army said of the Hamas attack on southern Israel, which killed 1,197 people, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.
Health officials in Hamas-run Gaza said at the time of the July 13 attack that more than 90 people had been killed, but Hamas denied that Deif was among them.
The suspected 2,000-pound (900 kg) bomb left a large crater around the house where Deef had taken refuge with one of his assistants.
The head of Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Deif was one of Israel’s most wanted men for nearly three decades, and had been on the US list of “international terrorists” since 2015.
The army said Deif had carried out several attacks against Israel over the past few years.
The army said Deif worked closely with Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas in Gaza.
It added, “During the war, he commanded Hamas’ terrorist activities in the Gaza Strip by issuing orders and instructions to senior members of Hamas’ military wing.”
The militants also took 251 people prisoner during the Hamas offensive, of whom 111 are still being held in Gaza, 39 of whom the military says are dead.
Since then, 39,480 people have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory military campaign, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, though the ministry did not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths.
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