Mohammed Deif confirmed dead after Israeli airstrike - IDF
Israel conducted an airstrike on July 13 that targeted the senior Hamas commander, while the terrorist organization originally said he had survived
The Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday that the military and Shin Bet security agency had confirmed that Hamas commander Mohammed Deif had been killed in an airstrike in July.
Fighter jets struck the site in Khan Yunis to eliminate the senior leader. After an intelligence assessment, his death was confirmed.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant praised the announcement, calling him the "Bin Laden of Gaza" in an X post. The elimination "is a big step on the way to eradicating Hamas as a military and governmental organization, and to achieving the goals of the war we set. The high-quality and precise operation that was carried out made possible the optimal cooperation between the IDF and the Shin Bet and those who head them. The results of the operation make it clear that Hamas is an organization in disintegration, and that the terrorists must choose between surrender and death."
The security system will pursue the Hamas terrorists - from the planners of the massacre to the perpetrators, and will not rest until the mission is completed.
"Mohammed Deif was the Commander of Hamas' Military Wing, and second in command of the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip," the IDF spokesperson's unit said in a statement. "Deif initiated, planned, and executed the October 7th Massacre, in which 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel and 251 hostages abducted into the Gaza Strip."
Deif was killed along with Rafa'a Salameh, the Khan Yunis Brigade commander for the terror organization. The latter's death was confirmed shortly after the strike, with other terrorists killed in the attack
"Over the years, Deif directed, planned, and carried out numerous terrorist attacks against the State of Israel," the IDF continued. "Deif operated side-by-side with Yahya Sinwar, and during the war, he commanded Hamas' terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip by issuing commands and instructions to senior members of Hamas' Military Wing."
Deif was a member of Hamas since the First Intifada, which lasted from 1987 to 1991. He was responsible for numerous suicide bombings that killed Israeli civilians, as well as other terrorist attacks and the strengthening of Hamas in the West Bank.