Israeli army announces Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif killed in Gaza in July

The Israeli military announced on Thursday that a strike last month in the southern Gaza area of Khan Yunis had killed Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif. The announcement came a day after the militant group’s political leader Isamil Haniyeh was assassinated in Teheran.

“The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) announces that on July 13th, 2024, IDF fighter jets struck in the area of Khan Yunis, and following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike,” the military said.

Deif is believed to have been one of the planners of Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel, which started the Gaza war, now ongoing for 300 days.

“Deif initiated, planned, and executed the October 7th massacre,” the military statement added.

The announcement coincided with crowds gathering in Tehran for the funeral of Haniyeh.

One of the most influential figures in Hamas, Deif has advanced through the group’s ranks over 30 years, building its tunnel network and improving its bomb-making skills, AFP reported. He has been at the top of Israel’s most wanted list for many years, held responsible for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings.

The suspected 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) bomb around the house where Deif was believed to be hiding with one of his deputies created a large crater, AFP stated.

Deif, the leader of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, had been one of Israel’s most wanted men for almost 30 years and was placed on a US list of “international terrorists” in 2015.

The military stated that Deif had conducted several attacks against Israel over the years and operated alongside Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, as per AFP.

“During the war, he commanded Hamas’s terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip by issuing commands and instructions to senior members of Hamas’s military wing,” the military said.

During the Hamas attack, militants captured 251 people, and 111 are still held in Gaza, including 39 who the military says are dead. Since then, Israel’s military response has killed 39,480 people, according to the health ministry in Gaza, which does not specify how many of those were civilians or militants.