Israel’s army says Hamas’s top military commander, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an Israeli air strike in southern Gaza on July 13.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Palestinian group.
“We can now confirm: Mohammed Deif was eliminated,” the Israeli military claimed on Thursday.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant hailed it as “a significant milestone in the process of dismantling Hamas as a military and governing authority in Gaza”.
“Hamas terrorists may either surrender or they will be eliminated. Israel’s defense 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 said Hamas’ collapse was “closer than ever” after Deif’s killing. “We must not stop a moment before victory,” the far-right minister wrote on X, adding that the Israeli military would continue to target the group’s leaders until “we destroy them all.”
Deif was targeted in an attack that killed at least 90 people and wounded 300 in al-Mawasi, a designated “safe zone” west of Khan Younis.
In the aftermath of the attack, the Israeli military claimed in a statement that it acted based on “precise intelligence” to hit an area where “two senior Hamas terrorists” and additional fighters hid among civilians.
In a subsequent news conference, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the two Hamas officials targeted were the group’s military chief, Mohammed Deif, and senior Hamas commander, Rafa Salama.
He said it was not immediately clear if either were killed.
Deif, 58, was one of the founders of Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, in the 1990s and led the force for more than 20 years.
