The Israeli military has confirmed that the head of Hamas‘ military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July.
Israel targeted Deif in a July 13 strike that hit a compound on the outskirts of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, but there had been no immediate confirmation Deif was killed.
More than 90 other people, including displaced civilians in nearby tents, were killed in the strike, Gaza health officials said at the time.
In a statement Thursday, the Israeli military said: “Following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike.”
Deif was one of the founders of Hamas‘ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, in the 1990s, going on to lead it for decades.
Under his command, the wing carried out dozens of suicide bombings against Israelis on buses and at cafes and built up a formidable arsenal of rockets that could strike deep into Israel and often did.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas but the Israeli confirmation came a day after an apparent Israeli airstrike in Tehran, Iran killed the militant group’s top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh.
Israel has not confirmed or denied being behind the attack, but Iran has vowed retaliation. Along with Deif and Haniyeh, Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas’ top leader in Gaza, Yehya Sinwar, but he has so far remained elusive.
Israel says Sinwar and Deif were the masterminds of the October 7 attack in which Hamas-led militants rampaged in southern Israeli communities, killing around 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.
Israel also accused Deif of planning and supervising bus bombings which killed tens of Israelis in 1996, and being involved in the capture and killing of three Israeli soldiers in the 1990s.
He also helped engineer the tunnels that have allowed Hamas fighters to enter Israel from Gaza.