Israel’s Army Radio reported on Saturday that an airstrike by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis likely succeeded in killing Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif and other senior terrorist leaders.
The IDF gave a brief announcement.
In a joint operation between the Israel Defense Forces and the ISA [Israel Security Agency] Actions based on accurate intelligence, IDF Southern Command and IAF [Israeli Air Force] The attack was carried out in an area where two senior Hamas terrorists and additional terrorists were hiding among civilians. The location of the attack was an open area surrounded by trees, several buildings and huts.
According to Reuters, Deif is considered the “mastermind” of the October 7 terror attack against Israel. report During October:
A survivor of seven Israeli assassination attempts, most recently in 2021, Deif rarely speaks or appears in public, so when Hamas’ TV station announced that Deif was scheduled to speak on Saturday, [October 7]The Palestinians knew something serious was happening.
“Today the anger of Al-Aqsa, the anger of our people and our nation is erupting. Our mujahideen (fighters), today is the day to make this criminal understand that his time is over,” Deif said in the recording.
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Deif’s whereabouts are unknown but he is believed to be in the labyrinth of tunnels beneath the Gaza Strip. Israeli security sources said he was directly involved in planning and executing the attack.
Army Radio reported that Hamas was preventing Palestinians from approaching the site of the airstrike because it wanted to avoid any possible Israeli confirmation that it had killed a key Hamas military commander.
Palestinians search for bodies and survivors at a site hit by Israeli bombing in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 13, 2024. Israel said a major attack in a crowded area in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday killed at least 71 people but that the target was a Hamas shadow military commander, local health officials said. Hamas immediately denied claims that Mohammed Deif had been in the area. (AP photo/Jehad Al-Shrafi)
Deif’s IDF Biography explanation His long history of terrorist activities:
Mohammed Deif is a military leader of the widely known terrorist organization Hamas, who joined the group in 1987 and has been actively involved in inciting terror and targeting civilians for over 30 years.
More recently, Deif played a key role in conceiving, planning and executing the brutal October 7th massacre…
Deif was reportedly born in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, in 1965. From the moment of his birth in the Khan Younis neighborhood of the Gaza Strip, Deif was raised in an extremist Islamic environment and was indoctrinated to follow the same ideology. He joined Hamas in 1987 and quickly rose through the chain of command of the Izzeddin Al-Qassam Brigades.
Deif had been in and out of Israeli prisons for many years, but was released in exchange for kidnapped civilians, soldiers and bodies.
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Deif was also known to plan suicide attacks, and was responsible for a series of suicide bombings in 1996 that killed 50 Israelis.
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Deif was designated a terrorist by the United States in September 2015. In a statement, the US designated him commander in chief of the Izzuddin al-Qassam Brigades, accusing him of carrying out suicide bombings against Israelis and kidnappings of Israeli soldiers.
The Israel Times Note Diff had a brief acting career.
Deif studied physics, chemistry and biology at the Islamic University of the Gaza Strip, graduating with a degree in science. He showed a love for the arts, serving as chairman of his university’s entertainment committee and performing comedy on stage.
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His survival while leading the Hamas militant wing has earned him folk-hero status in Palestine, and in his rare video appearances he is often masked or only a shadowy figure.
Deif has previously escaped IDF attacks and survived several previous attacks that left him injured but not killed, but Saturday’s reports suggest there is a high degree of certainty that the IDF succeeded in killing him this time.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to hold a press conference at 9pm Israeli time, his first since March, amid growing speculation that he will acknowledge the success of the operation against Deif.
It was unclear what impact the airstrikes would have on ongoing hostage negotiations. They could lead to Hamas terminating the talks, or they could put new pressure on Hamas leaders to back down on a deal. Army Radio reported that it was unclear whether the remaining 120 Israeli hostages were near Deif when the airstrikes took place.
update: Netanyahu He told journalists and Israelis that Deif and his deputy, Rafa Salameh, were the targets of the operation. Israel has not yet confirmed their deaths, but he said Israeli intelligence had confirmed before the airstrike that no hostages were surrounding the Hamas commanders.
Netanyahu reminded Israel that he had promised that after October 7, Hamas members would be dead.
He then turned to Iran, noting that Iran is surrounding Israel with terrorist organizations and trying to strangle the country, and therefore it is forbidden to give up on the victory over Iranian proxies, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, he said.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday The show airs Sunday nights from 7 to 10 p.m. (4 to 7 p.m. ET) on SiriusXM Patriot. He is the author of “Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” which is available for preorder on Amazon. He also wrote,Trumpian virtue: The lessons and legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency” is available on Audible. He is the 2018 recipient of the Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
