Mastermind of October 7 killed? Concealed information about the health of Hamas military chief
Israel's army attacked the military chief of the Islamist Hamas, Mohammed Deif, on Saturday near Chan Junis in southern Gaza. Dozens of people were killed. It is still unclear whether Deif is among the dead.
15.07.2024, 05:08
15.07.2024, 09:33
SDA
Israel's army is working feverishly to clarify the fate of the Islamist Hamas military chief following its airstrike on him. Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi accused Hamas of trying to prevent this: "It is still too early to draw conclusions about the results of the strike, which Hamas is trying to conceal."
It is "very hard to believe" that anyone survived the airstrike, the Wall Street Journal quoted Yossi Kuperwasser, former head of the research department of Israeli military intelligence. However, it could be days or weeks before Israel has enough information to be able to say for sure what happened to Deif. In March, Israel's army only confirmed the killing of Deif's deputy Marwan Issa two weeks after the attack on him. Hamas, on the other hand, has never confirmed Issa's death.
If Deif is indeed no longer alive, he would be the highest-ranking Hamas leader to be killed by Israel in the Gaza war, which has been going on for more than nine months. On Sunday, the Israeli military confirmed that the commander of Hamas' Chan Junis Brigade, Rafa Salama, was killed in the airstrike. He was considered a close associate of Deif, who was said to have been at his side at the time of the airstrike.
A Hamas representative in Beirut denied on Sunday that its military chief had been killed in Gaza. Deif is often called the "Phantom". The 58-year-old is said to have survived at least seven Israeli attacks. Israel is therefore likely to take particular care to determine whether he was killed this time, Kuperwasser told the Wall Street Journal. A photo of his body would be more meaningful than intelligence information, he said.
Until just over six months ago, it was assumed in Israel that Deif had lost several limbs and had a number of physical disabilities. Until footage finally emerged showing Deif with both arms and both legs. Deif is considered one of Israel's most wanted terrorists. He is the deputy of the head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Jihia al-Sinwar.
Air strike on school building in Nuseirat
According to Palestinian reports, at least 90 people were killed in the airstrike. At least 300 others were injured in the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. This information could not initially be independently verified either. According to an Israeli army representative, the target of the airstrike was a fenced-off, guarded Hamas base located in the humanitarian zone declared by Israel to the west of Khan Yunis.
Meanwhile, according to Palestinian reports, around 15 people were killed in another airstrike on a school building in the refugee district of Nuseirat in the central section of the sealed-off Gaza Strip. Dozens of people were injured, Hamas announced. Israel's military previously announced that it had attacked several Hamas fighters in the area of a school run by the UN refugee relief organization UNRWA. It had served the terrorists as a hiding place and base of operations for attacks on Israeli troops.
Israel: Hamas uses schools and civilians as a shield
In the run-up to the attack, the army took numerous steps to minimize the risk to civilians, it said. The information provided by both sides could not be independently verified. In Nuseirat, Israel's army had recently attacked several terrorists entrenched in a school building from the air. Shortly before that, 16 people were killed in an attack on a former UNRWA school, which has served as refugee accommodation since the outbreak of the Gaza war, according to Hamas.
The Israeli army once again pointed out that the terrorist organization systematically violates international laws by misusing civilian institutions such as schools and the population as human shields for terrorist attacks against the state of Israel.
Ceasefire negotiations apparently not broken off
A representative of Hamas' political wing denied reports that the indirect negotiations with Israel on a ceasefire and the release of hostages had been broken off. It was not true that Hamas had made such a decision after the Israeli airstrike, he said. According to Israeli media reports, the head of the Israeli foreign intelligence service Mossad, Daniel Barnea, intends to travel to the Qatari capital Doha in the coming days for a further round of hostage talks.
The indirect negotiations, in which Qatar, Egypt and the USA have been mediating for months, are about exchanging the remaining hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails as well as a ceasefire and the delivery of humanitarian aid. The indirect talks are progressing slowly. Israel has so far rejected Hamas' demand for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
