Israel-Hamas warIsrael, again, tries to kill Muhammad Deif, Hamas military leader
Israel last night [Middle East time] tried, for the fifth time in fifteen years, to kill Mohammed Deif, the head of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing. It is not yet clear whether he was killed in the attack, but the dead bodies of his wife and his small child were pulled. It appears that Israel became aware that Deif, believing that there would be a few days of calm while Israeli and Palestinian delegations were in Cairo to work out the details of a truce, was planning to emerge from his bunker to meet with the commander of Hamas’s rocket force at the home of that commander. Deif’s wife and child were to meet him there as well. Israeli missiles struck to house when it appeared that Deif had arrived, destroying the building. Three bodies were pulled from the rubble — a woman, a small child, and a man in his late 40s or early 50s (Deif was born in 1965).
Israel last night [Middle East time] tried, for the fifth time in fifteen years, to kill Mohammed Deif, the head of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing. It is not yet clear whether he was killed in the attack, but the dead bodies of his wife and his small child were pulled.
Israeli intelligence never stops tracking Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of the latest round of war between Israel and Hamas in early July, all these leaders have been sheltering in deeply dug bunkers located under hospitals in Gaza City. The main leadership bunker is located under Shifa Medical Center, Gaza’s largest medical facility.
It appears that Israel became aware that Deif, believing that there would be a few days of calm while Israeli and Palestinian delegations were in Cairo to work out the details of a truce, was planning to emerge from his bunker to meet with the commander of Hamas’s rocket force at the home of that commander. Deif’s wife and child were to meet him there as well.
Israeli missiles struck to house when it appeared that Deif had arrived, destroying the building.
Three bodies were pulled from the rubble — a woman, a small child, and a man in his late 40s or early 50s (Deif was born in 1965).
Hamas initially announced that Deif had not been killed, but the fact that the organization immediately began launching heavy rocket barrages at Israel may be an indication that an important Hamas leader was killed in the attack.
After initially denying that Deif was killed, Hamas spokesmen went silent, refusing to comment on the issue.
The Israeli attack occurred while Hamas, on Tuesday evening and night, was already firing mortar rounds at Israeli kibbutzim near the Gaza Strip.
Deif, whose full name is Muhammad Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, was born in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in 1965. He belongs to the younger, and more militant, generation of Hamas military leaders, among them Yahia (“the Engineer”) Ayash (killed by Israel in December 1995), Salah Shehadeh (killed by Israel in 2004), Ahmad Jaabri (killed by Israel in November 2012), and Hasan Salameh (now in Israeli jail).
