Muhammad Deif, Hamas military commander in Gaza, died

Muhammad Deif, the dark chief of the Hamas military wing in Gaza and one of the main architects of October 7, 2023, attacking Israel who sparked a war, was confirmed Thursday by Hamas. He was in the late 1950s.

Mr. DEIF, whose real name was Muhammad Al-Masri, was one of the most senior leaders in Hamas in Gaza, and he was one of Israel’s most sought after militants for decades. He survived a number of attempts at Israeli assassination before the one who killed him and was lionized by some Palestinians as a symbol of Hamas resilience – although enigmatic.

While Israel announced in August that he was killed, Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Hamas military wing, recognized his death until Thursday in a recorded video declaration. Israel and the United States considered him a terrorist with the blood of their citizens on his hands.

Mr. DEIF was killed on July 13, said Israel, when his forces bombed a complex on the outskirts of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to the Israeli army – making him one of the most senior commanders of the Hamas killed inside Gaza in the war.

Mr. Obeida did not say when or where Mr. DEIF was killed.

The strike that killed Mr. DEIF also killed at least 90 Palestinians on the ground, said the Gaza Ministry of Health, hitting in the Al-Mawasi region in the south of Gaza, part of a humanitarian area designated by Israel. The Ministry of Health does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its nonsense.

The area was a large extent filled with hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians, who were living in makeshift shelters, according to the United Nations. Israel said Hamas would operate from the targeted compound in the area.