The head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Dayef, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza last month, the Israeli military said on Thursday, a day after the group’s political leader was killed in Tehran.
“The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) announces that on July 13, 2024, IDF warplanes struck the area of Khan Younis and after an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Daif was killed in the strike,” the military said. .
We can now confirm: Mohammed Deif was eliminated.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 1, 2024
The IDF and the Shin Bet announce that in a joint operation by the IDF and the Shin Bet, on July 13, 2024, fighter jets attacked the Khan Yunis area and now, after an intelligence check, it can be confirmed that the attack killed Muhammad Daf, the commander of the military arm, and several Two in the terrorist organization Hamas in Gaza, which planned and carried out the murderous massacre on October 7>> pic.twitter.com/3Zd1gasBWm
— Israel Defense Forces (@idfonline) August 1, 2024
Hamas did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Israeli announcement, which came as crowds gathered in Tehran for the funeral procession of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Deif is believed to have been one of the masterminds of the October 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel, which sparked the Gaza war, now in its 300th day.
One of Hamas’ most dominant operatives, Deif rose through the ranks of the group over 30 years, developing its network of tunnels and bomb-making expertise. He has been at the top of Israel’s most wanted list for decades, held personally responsible for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings.
Israel imprisoned him in 2000, but he managed to escape at the start of the second Palestinian uprising, or Intifada.
His martial nickname was “The Visitor” and referred to the practice of Palestinian militants spending each night in the homes and properties of different sympathizers in order to avoid being targeted by Israeli intelligence.
Deif, who was behind a decade-long program to tunnel under Gaza, was born Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri in the Khan Younis refugee camp in 1965, when Gaza was under Egyptian control.
Deif became the supreme military commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades after the assassination of Salah Sehad by Israel in July 2002.
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