Israel Says It Killed Hamas Commander Mohammed Deif in Airstrike

Gazans look at the debris of destroyed tents and makeshift housing structures following an Israeli military strike on the al-Mawasi camp for internally displaced people, near the city of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, on July 13, 2024. (Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images)

The Israeli military has said it killed Mohammed Deif, a commander of the Hamas terrorist group, in a July 13 airstrike in the Khan Yunis area of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli military and intelligence officials had suspected Deif was killed in the strike but had not previously been able to corroborate this belief. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Aug. 1 that new intelligence assessments had confirmed its belief that Deif was killed in the strike.

Deif joined Hamas—a U.S. and Israeli-designated terrorist group—in around 1987. Israeli authorities arrested Deif in 1989 and he spent more than a year in Israeli custody before being released in a prisoner exchange. 

The Israeli military assessed that Deif continued to rise through the Hamas ranks, eventually becoming a group leader. Israeli authorities concluded that Deif played a key leadership role in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks across southern Israel, in which around 1,200 people were killed, thousands more injured, and approximately 250 people abducted.

The IDF said Israel’s Aman military intelligence agency and the Shin Bet national security agency had determined taht Deif and another Hamas commander, Rafe Salama, were both staying at a compound in Khan Yunis when Israeli aircraft targeted it on July 13. The IDF did not elaborate further on its new intelligence assessment, nor did it specify whether it located Deif’s remains in a battle damage assessment.

The Epoch Times reached out to the IDF for further comment about its latest intelligence assessments but did not receive a response by publication time.

Hamas previously denied Deif was killed in the July 13 strike and has yet to comment publicly on the latest Israeli claims.

Deif has appeared to survive previous attempts on his life. Israeli aircraft killed Deif’s wife, 3-year-old daughter, and infant son in a 2014 strike targeting their family home. Hamas reported Deif was out of the house during the strike.

Deif survived other attempts on his life, including in 2021.

The IDF’s assessment that it killed Deif in the July 13 strike came a day after Hamas announced its political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in a strike while visiting Iran. No one has publicly claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s death, but Hamas has pointed the blame at Israel.

Israeli aircraft conducted another strike in Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday, targeting Fuad Shukr, a senior commander within Hezbollah, another U.S.- and Israeli-designated terrorist group. Hezbollah has since confirmed Shukr’s death.

Hezbollah first began striking at northern Israel in the hours after the Oct. 7 attacks. Israeli forces have returned fire and the two sides have been trading blows in a cross-border skirmish in the months since.

In a televised address on Wednesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “exact a heavy price for any act of aggression against [Israel] on any front.”

Iranian leaders have signaled they would retaliate for the strike that killed Haniyeh on their soil. Shukr’s death could also fuel a wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which has been simmering for nearly 10 months.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a Thursday social media post that the July 13 strike against Deif brings Israel closer to its wartime goal of eliminating Hamas.

“This operation reflects the fact that Hamas is disintegrating, and that Hamas terrorists may either surrender or they will be eliminated,” Gallant said.

Reuters contributed to this report.