Israel’s army says Hamas’s top military commander, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an Israeli air raid in southern Gaza on July 13.
“We can now confirm: Mohammed Deif was eliminated,” the Israeli military said on Thursday.
There was no immediate response from the Palestinian group.
Izzat al-Rashq, a Hamas member, said the news of Deif’s killing was unconfirmed.
“Confirming or denying the martyrdom of any of the Qassam leaders is a matter for the leadership of the Qassam Brigades and the leadership of the movement,” he said on Telegram, referring to Hamas’s military wing.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant called Deif “the Osama Bin Laden of Gaza” and hailed his death 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’s 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”.
Israeli opposition leaders also welcomed the news. The head of the Yisrael Beytenu party, Avigdor Liberman, congratulated the military for the “killing of the mass murderer Mohammed Deif” and said the strike was “evidence of our ability to face any threat”.
Yesh Atid party chairman Yair Lapid said the operation was an “unprecedentedly important military achievement”.
Deif was targeted in an attack that killed at least 90 people and wounded 300 in al-Mawasi, an Israeli designated “safe zone” west of Khan Younis.
The attack by Israeli warplanes targeted tents housing displaced Palestinians and a water distillation unit. Images from the scene showed Palestinians trying to rescue people from under the rubble with children and paramedics among the wounded.
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 were hiding among civilians.
In a subsequent news conference, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the two Hamas officials targeted were Deif and senior Hamas commander Rafa Salama. He said it was not immediately clear if either was killed.
