September 9, 2024
JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said Thursday that it has confirmed that the head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July. The announcement came a day after an apparent Israeli strike in the Iranian capital killed Hamas’ top political leader.
The rapid events this week have left U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators scrambling to salvage talks for a cease-fire deal in Gaza. At the same time, international diplomats tried to avert an escalation into all-out regional war after the assassination in Tehran of Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh, Israel’s killing of a top Hezbollah commander in a Beirut strike and – now – Israel’s announcement of Deif’s death.
The elimination of Haniyeh and Deif — two of Hamas’ most senior figures — brings a victory for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. It also puts him at a crossroads.
It potentially presents him with a political off-ramp to end the war, allowing him to retreat from his lofty promises of “total victory” while showing Israelis that Hamas’ military capabilities suffered a debilitating blow.
It could also lead him to harden Israel’s position in cease-fire talks, with Israeli officials insisting the blows to Hamas will force it to compromise. Hamas too could dig in as well in the talks — or quit them entirely.
Israel believes that Deif, the head of Hamas’ military, and Yahya Sinwar, the top Hamas leader in Gaza, were the chief architects of the Oct. 7 attack that killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel and triggered the Israel-Hamas war. Sinwar is believed to remain in hiding in Gaza.
Israel targeted Deif in a July 13 strike that hit a compound on the outskirts of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The military said at the time that another Hamas commander, Rafa Salama, was killed.
In a statement Thursday, the Israeli military said that “following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike.”
So far Netanyahu has said he is determined to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed. Far-right nationalist coalition partners, on whom he relies to stay in power, have threatened to bolt the government if he halts the war.
After the announcement on Deif, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the “defeat of Hamas is closer than ever.” He said the military would continue to “eliminate thousands of other terrorists until our security is restored and we bring the hostages home.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the strike that killed Deif was a “significant milestone” toward achieving the goals of the war. “The results of this operation reflect that Hamas is an organization in disintegration,” he wrote on X.
Deif was one of the founders of Hamas’ military wing in the 1990s. He led the Qassam Brigades for decades through campaigns of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians, volleys of rocket fire into Israel and repeated past Israeli assaults on Gaza since Hamas took power there in 2007.
He remained a mysterious, underground figure in Gaza. He never appeared in public, was hardly ever photographed and only rarely was his voice heard in audio statements. He survived a string of Israeli assassination attempts.
Haniyeh’s killing in particular threw into disarray months of efforts at reaching a deal for a cease-fire in Gaza and a hostage release. Haniyeh had been a main negotiator in those talks.
After Haniyeh’s assassination, Iran has vowed revenge against Israel, and the killing of Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut could also bring reprisals — raising fears of a wider spiral of escalation.
