October 17, 2024
MUWASI, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas said Sunday that the group’s military commander is in good health, a day after the Israeli military targeted Mohammed Deif with a massive airstrike.
Deif’s condition remained unclear after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday night “there still isn’t absolute certainty” he was killed. Hamas representatives gave no evidence to back up their assertion about the health of a chief architect of the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war.
The Israeli military announced Sunday that Rafa Salama, a Hamas commander it described as one of Deif's closest associates, was killed in Saturday's strike. Salama commanded Hamas' Khan Younis brigade. The statement gave no update on Deif, who has long topped Israel's most-wanted list and has been in hiding for years.
The killing of Deif would mark the highest profile assassination of any Hamas leader by Israel since the war began. It would be a huge victory for Israel and a deep psychological blow for the militant group. Netanyahu said all of Hamas’ leaders are “marked for death" and asserted that killing them would move Hamas closer to accepting a cease-fire deal.
Hamas political officials insisted that communication channels remained functional between the leadership inside and outside Gaza after the strike in the territory's south.
On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant praised the pilots who carried out the strike and said Hamas is being eroded every day, with no ability to arm itself, organize or “care for the wounded.”
On Sunday, police said a Palestinian resident of east Jerusalem carried out a car-ramming attack in central Israel that injured four Israelis, two of them seriously. Israeli border police at the scene shot dead the attacker after he hit people waiting at two bus stops along a busy road. Israel's military said four of its personnel were wounded, two of them severely.
Israeli police commissioner Kobi Shabtai said such attacks were often “triggered” by events like Saturday’s airstrike in Gaza.
