By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Maayan Lubell
CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The top of Hamas’ navy wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza final month, the Israeli navy mentioned on Thursday, a day after the group’s political chief was assassinated in Tehran.
Deif is believed to have been one of many masterminds of Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel which triggered the Gaza struggle.
“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 navy mentioned.
Hamas neither confirmed nor denied the killing of Deif, however one official, Ezzat Rashaq, mentioned any phrase on deaths of its leaders was its accountability alone.
“Unless either of them (the Hamas political and military leadership) announces it, no news published in the media or by any other parties can be confirmed,” Rashaq mentioned.
The Israeli announcement got here as crowds gathered within the Iranian capital for the funeral procession of Hamas’ chief Isamil Haniyeh.
Iran and Hamas have blamed Haniyeh’s killing on Israel, which has neither denied nor confirmed a job within the assassination. It did nonetheless affirm it killed a senior commander of the Lebanese Hezbollah motion in Beirut on Tuesday.
Hezbollah and Hamas are backed by Iran. The most recent killings have raised concern of an extra escalation in hostilities within the Center East, with threats of revenge towards Israel, which has mentioned it doesn’t search regional struggle however that it could reply forcefully to any assault.
STRING OF DEATHS
On Thursday, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri mentioned Haniyeh’s demise wouldn’t weaken the group’s fighters in Gaza.
“Despite the crime, Hamas remains strong and the confrontation in Gaza is continuing,” he mentioned.
However his demise was the newest in a sequence that has focused the group’s leaders. Haniyeh’s deputy, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed in a drone strike in Beirut in January. In March, Israel mentioned it had killed Marwan Issa, Deif’s deputy.
America confirmed Issa’s demise in an Israeli operation. Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied his demise.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant mentioned Deif’s demise was a milestone in Israel’s aim of destroying Hamas’ navy wing, referred to as Al-Qassam Brigades.
“Hamas is disintegrating,” Gallant mentioned on X. “Hamas terrorists may either surrender or they will be eliminated.”
One among Hamas’ most dominant figures, Deif rose by means of the group’s ranks over 30 years, growing its community of tunnels and its bomb-making experience.
He has topped Israel’s most needed checklist for many years, held personally liable for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings. Scores of Palestinians have been killed within the airstrike that killed him, medics in Gaza say.
The opposite mastermind of the Oct. 7 assault, Yahaya Sinwar, continues to be believed to be directing navy operations, presumably from bunkers beneath Gaza, whereas taking part in a number one position in oblique negotiations with Israel for a prisoner swap deal.
However now on the three hundredth day of warfare in Gaza, hopes for a hostage deal and ceasefire have dimmed.
The struggle erupted when militants led by Hamas stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 individuals, most of them civilians, and taking round 250 hostages again to Gaza, in keeping with Israeli tallies.
The Gaza well being ministry says greater than 39,400 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed within the subsequent Israeli offensive. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians in its fatality studies.
Israel has misplaced 329 troopers in Gaza and says round a 3rd of the Palestinian useless are fighters.
On Thursday, the Israeli navy mentioned it struck towards dozens of Hamas targets in Gaza, together with fighters and infrastructure. No less than 13 individuals had been killed within the Israeli bombardments throughout the enclave, Gaza medics mentioned.
An Israeli missile that hit a automobile on the entrance of Al-Maghazi district in central Gaza killed six individuals and 5 extra have been killed in a strike on a home in close by Nusseirat, medics mentioned, whereas a airstrike in Gaza Metropolis killed two others.
East of Al-Maghazi, residents mentioned tanks have been firing as they tried to push deeper into the world.
Earlier, Israeli authorities launched 15 Palestinians whom it had detained prior to now months in Gaza. The boys arrived for therapy at a Gaza hospital, complaining of abuse throughout their detention. Israel denies torture and is investigating suspected abuse of detainees.
