An Israeli airstrike targeted Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif in Gaza on Saturday, a security official and Israeli Army Radio said. The Israeli Health Ministry said at least 71 Palestinians were killed in the attack.
The security official said it was not clear whether Deif was killed. Army radio said Deif was hiding in a building in al-Mawasi, an Israeli-designated humanitarian area west of the southern city of Khan Younis.
Deif was one of the masterminds of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which sparked the war in Gaza. He has survived seven Israeli assassination attempts, most recently in 2021, and has been at the top of Israel’s most-wanted list for decades.
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 71 Palestinians were killed and 289 wounded in the attack.
The office of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said they were holding special consultations in light of “developments in Gaza.” It was unclear what impact the attack would have on ceasefire talks underway in Doha and Cairo.
The Hamas-run media office said at least 100 people were killed and wounded, including members of the Civil Emergency Service. The Israeli military said it was investigating the report.
A senior Hamas official would not confirm whether Deif was there, and described the Israeli allegations as “nonsense.”
“All the martyrs are civilians and what happened was a grave escalation of the genocidal war, which was backed by US support and the silence of the world,” Abu Zuhri told Reuters, adding that the attack showed Israel was not interested in reaching a ceasefire deal.
Eyewitnesses said the attack was a surprise
Reuters footage showed ambulances rushing to the area amid clouds of smoke and dust. Displaced people, including women and children, were running in panic, some clutching belongings in their hands.
Witnesses said the attack was a surprise because the area was calm at the time, adding that more than one missile had been fired. They said some of the injured were rescue workers who were being evacuated.
“They’re all gone, my whole family is gone … where are my brothers? They’re all gone, they’re all gone. There’s no one left now,” cried one woman, who declined to give her name.
“Our children are in pieces, they are in pieces. Shame on you (on you),” he said.
During his more than 30 years rising within Hamas, Deif developed the group’s network of tunnels and bomb-making expertise. He is blamed for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings.
On October 7, Hamas-led militants launched a cross-border attack into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage, according to Israeli figures.
Gaza-based medical officials say Israel has retaliated with a military crackdown on Gaza that has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
