According to sources within the Israeli military, Muhammad Deif, the military commander of Hamas who is believed to have planned the October 7th assault on southern Israel, is thought to have been killed during an air strike within the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday. The region hit by the attack was identified by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) as a secured Hamas compound at the periphery of Al-Mawasi’s humanitarian area, kept under surveillance by covert militants. Intelligence details led to the deployment of an F-35 aircraft, which used laser-guided methodology to drop a high-impact bunker-busting bomb on the location, guided by the belief that Mr Deif, a survivor of seven prior assassination attempts by Israel, was present.
The incident, according to the health ministry governed by Hamas, led to the death of over 90 individuals, and was deemed a massacre by Hamas officials. The Israelis, however, argue that many of those deceased were militants. Assertions have been made from within Hamas, indicating that Mr Deif, who holds the second spot on Israel’s most-wanted list after the leader of Hamas, Yaha Sinwar, survived the assault, yet no corroborating evidence has been presented. A Hamas official reported to the AFP news agency that “Commander Mohammed Deif is well and directly overseeing” operations within Hamas.
Ronen Bar, the head of Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), justified the planned murder of Deif as a product of “precise intelligence”. Speaking from the southern Gaza city of Rafah with high-ranking military officials, he confirmed that 25 Hamas militants involved in the October 7th assault had been slain in Gaza over the previous week. Alongside this, the death of Rafa’a Salama, the commander of the Hamas Khan Yunis brigade and Deif’s closest associate, was also reported. Salama’s name was also featured amongst those wanted by Israel. Both Hamas sources and the Saudi news site Asharq Al-Awsat confirmed Salama’s death on Sunday, noting that his body was recovered the previous day and promptly buried.
Despite mixed reports and the events of Saturday’s attack, a high-ranking Hamas official affirmed on Sunday that peace talks concerning a Gaza ceasefire and the negotiation for the release of hostages would proceed.
Rumours are circulating in Israel that the suspected death of Mr Deif could give prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu the “winning photo” necessary to validate a ceasefire and conclude the war, thereby returning Israeli captives. However, others argue that Mr Netanyahu is not interested in concluding the conflict since a ceasefire might trigger his right-wing coalition’s disbandment and the call for fresh elections.
On Sunday, Palestinians reported that an Unrwa refugee agency school in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza was bombarded by Israel, resulting in at least 13 deaths, including women and children. The IDF insisted that the school was being used by militants for their operations.
The Palestinian health ministry, controlled by Hamas in Gaza, revealed that over 38,500 Palestinians have died since the war began on October 7th. According to Israel, a sudden Hamas attack on the same day resulted in 1,200 deaths and 253 abductions. Israel has confirmed that 42 of about 116 captives in Gaza are dead.
As the temperature in Gaza reaches 40 degrees, humanitarian organisations depict a rapid decline in conditions. There are scarcities of important supplies and water amounts are restricted. Aid officials have reported a near-complete collapse of order, with humanitarian trucks coming into the coastal region being instantly pillaged.
On Sunday, a car-ramming attack in central Israel left four soldiers injured, two of them severely. After running over a soldier waiting by the roadside and making a U-turn to hit more at a nearby bus stop, the driver, a Palestinian from East Jerusalem, was killed by security forces.