Israeli forces have launched new bombing raids across the Gaza Strip, killing at least 31 Palestinians and wounding more than 50, rescue workers and health officials said, and the attack on a top Hamas commander has sparked conflicting reports about whether Hamas will withdraw from ceasefire talks.
Four attacks occurred across Gaza City in the early hours of Sunday, less than 24 hours after the Israeli army said Mohammed Deif, the suspected mastermind of the October 7 attack on southern Israel, was the target of an attack in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis. More than 90 people were killed and 300 injured in the attack, according to Gaza emergency services.
Fourteen more people were killed in the attack on Sunday morning near a UN-run school being used as a shelter for displaced people in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, according to journalists at the scene. Israel said it had Hamas fighters in the area.
Sunday’s bombings added to the toll in what has been one of the deadliest weeks of Israeli air strikes on Gaza since war broke out nine months ago.
Deif, 58, who has been on Israel’s most wanted list since 1995 and has evaded multiple Israeli assassination attempts, is believed to be the mastermind behind attacks that killed 1,200 people, kidnapped 250 and sparked the Israel-Gaza war. Israeli retaliation has killed more than 38,400 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, plunging the region’s 2.3 million residents into a devastating humanitarian crisis.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade chief, Rafa Salama, was also targeted in the attack and that they had successfully “neutralized” him. Saudi daily Asharq al-Aswat reported on Sunday that a Hamas source had confirmed Salama’s death.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday night: [Deif and Salama] We have failed so far, but I want to guarantee that we will somehow make it to the top of Hamas.”
Hamas deputy leader Khalil al-Hayya told Al Jazeera television that the group’s top military commander had not been killed, and told Netanyahu: “Deif is listening to you now and laughing at your lies.”
Another Hamas official told AFP that Deif was “fine” and operating despite the Israeli attacks, but did not provide evidence.
Deif, meaning “guest” in Arabic, is the nickname of the 58-year-old commander. His real name is Mohammed Al Masri. He has frequently changed locations over the years to evade Israeli investigations. A former science student who was involved with Hamas from a young age, he orchestrated a series of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians in the 1990s and another one a decade later.
On October 7, Hamas released a rare audio recording of Deif announcing “Operation Al-Aqsa Flooding.”
Deif’s killing would be a much-needed morale boost for Israel, which has so far failed to eliminate a single top Hamas leader in nearly 10 months of fighting, despite what Prime Minister Netanyahu has said is a “lethal attack.”
Gaza’s Health Ministry said airstrikes targeting Deif and Salama hit displaced camps in the Khan Yunis area, killing at least 92 Palestinians and wounding more than 300. Residents said they saw at least five “heavy fighter jets bombing the centre of Al Mawashi, west of Khan Yunis.”
Mawashi, on the Mediterranean coast, has been designated a “refuge area” by Israel, which has made it a safe haven for hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians. The Israeli military has not confirmed the exact location of the attack. The area has come under attack before.
Hamas said claims that Israel targeted Palestinian militant leaders were “false” and aimed at “justifying” the attacks. A senior Hamas official told AFP on Sunday that Palestinian militants had withdrawn from talks for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages, citing Israel’s “massacres” and its stance on the negotiations.
Two Egyptian security sources told Reuters on Saturday that the latest round of Gaza ceasefire talks had been called off after three days of intense negotiations failed to produce a viable outcome, and accused Israel of lacking “a real intention to reach an agreement”.
But a Hamas official issued a statement on Sunday denying that the group had withdrawn from the talks. Spokesman Jihad Taha said “the horrific massacre will undoubtedly affect negotiating efforts,” but added that “the efforts and efforts of mediators are continuing.”
Hours earlier, Ismail Haniyeh, a Qatar-based Hamas political leader, accused Netanyahu of trying to block an agreement to end the war with a “brutal massacre.” In a statement, he said Hamas had given a “positive and responsible response” to the new proposal for a ceasefire and prisoner and hostage exchange, but “the Israeli position taken by Prime Minister Netanyahu was to put up obstacles preventing an agreement from being reached.”
Thousands of Israelis took to the streets over the weekend in what have become weekly protests, accusing Netanyahu of obstructing the negotiations. Political interestsAmong the protesters were family members of hostages, who staged a symbolic march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Relatives of those held captive by Hamas in Gaza fear that a recent escalation of bombardment in the Palestinian territories could prevent the safe return of their loved ones. Israel says it believes at least 40 hostages have been killed since their capture in October last year.
“In light of recent events in the Gaza Strip, the hostages’ families reiterate their appeal to Prime Minister Netanyahu that there will be no victory unless all 120 hostages are returned home,” a statement from the Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Hostages said. “The proposed agreement is in the final stages. We have been waiting for them for 282 days. Time is of the essence. We cannot waste another minute.”
