Jerusalem: Israel said it targeted Hamas’ shadowy military commander in a massive strike in the southern Gaza Strip that killed at least 71 people, according to local health officials.
It was not immediately known whether Mohammed Deif was among the dead. But Israeli officials confirmed that he and a second Hamas commander, Rafa Salama, were the targets. Hamas immediately rejected the claim.
Deif is believed by many to be the chief architect of the Oct 7 attack that killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel and triggered the Israel-Hamas war. He has topped Israel’s most-wanted list for years and is believed to have escaped multiple Israeli assassination attempts in the past.
His potential killing threatens to derail cease-fire talks and would be seen as a major Israeli victory in the nine-month campaign.
“These false claims are merely a cover-up for the scale of the horrific massacre,” Hamas said in a statement in response to Israel.
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 289 others were injured in the attack and that many of the injured and dead were taken to nearby Nasser Hospital. At the hospital, Associated Press journalists counted over 40 bodies and witnesses there described an attack that included several strikes.
The Israeli military asserted that “additional terrorists hid among civilians” and described the strike location as an area surrounded by trees, several buildings and sheds.
Footage of the aftermath showed charred tents, burnt-out cars and household belongings scattered across the blackened earth as emergency workers and Palestinians displaced by the nine-month war searched for survivors.
Victims were carried on the hoods and in the hatchbacks of cars, and on donkey carts and carpets.
Witnesses said the strike landed inside Muwasi, the Israeli designated safe zone that stretches from northern Rafah to Khan Younis. The coastal strip is where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled to in search of safety, sheltering mostly in makeshift tents.
“This was designated as a safe zone filled with people from the north,” said one displaced Palestinian man who did not give his name. “Children were all martyred here. We collected their pieces with our hands.” He estimated there were seven or eight missiles and that first responders were targeted as well.
According to an Israeli official, the strike was carried out within a fenced area of Khan Younis that was run by Hamas, but did not elaborate on the precise location.
The latest deadly strike comes as US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators continue to push to narrow gaps between Israel and Hamas over a proposed deal for a three-phase cease-fire and hostage release plan in Gaza.
Mohammed Deif has been in hiding for more than two decades and is believed to be paralysed after surviving multiple assassination attempts. One of the only known images of the man is a 30-year-old ID photo released by Israel, and even in Gaza, only a handful of people would recognise him.
The US-backed proposal calls for an initial cease-fire with a limited hostage release and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from populated areas in Gaza. At the same time, the two sides will negotiate the terms of the second phase. Phase two is supposed to bring a full hostage release in return for a permanent cease-fire and complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza after Hamas’ Oct 7 attack in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and abducted about 250.
Since then, Israeli ground offensives and bombardments have killed more than 38,400 people in Gaza and wounded more than 88,000, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. More than 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes, and most are now crowded into squalid tent camps, facing widespread hunger.
