Israel confirms Hamas military head Muhammad Deif killed last month in Gaza

Israel Defense Forces confirm death of Hamas military wing commander Muhammad Deif a day after Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran in alleged Israeli operation

A day after Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital of Tehran, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed on Thursday that it had killed Muhammad Deif, the commander of Hamas' military wing, in an airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip last month.

The IDF said it had obtained intelligence confirming Deif's death in the past few hours, the Times of Israel reported on Thursday. The IDF's official account on social media platform X also confirmed Deif's death.

We can now confirm: Mohammed Deif was eliminated.

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 1, 2024

Who was Muhammad Deif?

Deif, 58, commanded the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades for more than two decades and was in Israel's crosshairs for a long time.

 

Deif was one of the architects of Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel, the deadliest in the country's history, when 1,200 people were killed and around 251 others taken to Gaza as hostages.

How was Muhammad Deif killed?

On July 13, Deif was targeted by an Israeli airstrike at a compound belonging to Rafa'a Salameh, the commander of Hamas' Khan Younis Brigade, in the Khan Younis area.

While Salameh's death was confirmed by the IDF a day later, it had said that it did not have final information regarding Deif at that time.

However, according to the Times of Israel report, the IDF believed that its intelligence that Deif had arrived at Salameh's compound was highly accurate and also that the two Hamas leaders were together in the building that was struck with several heavy munitions.

Once the IDF had early indications that Deif had joined Samaleh, Israeli combat aircraft reportedly patrolled the compound for half a day before the airstrike was executed. In fact, till the strike was over, two fighter jets were in the air above the compound at any given moment.

After the intelligence that Deif had arrived at the site was confirmed by the IDF, the aircraft were given the order to execute the airstrike, which was reportedly carried out within just a few minutes.

The IDF also released the footage of the strike.

בפעילות משותפת של צה״ל ושב״כ, בתאריך ה-13 ביולי 2024 מטוסי קרב תקפו במרחב ח'אן יונס וכעת, לאחר בדיקה מודיעינית, ניתן לאשר כי בתקיפה חוסל מחמד דף, מפקד הזרוע הצבאית ומספר שתיים בארגון הטרור חמאס בעזה, אשר תכנן והוציא לפועל את הטבח הרצחני בשבעה באוקטובר.

מטוסי חיל האוויר תקפו… pic.twitter.com/6dAgs8u5DE

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) August 1, 2024

Confirmation of Deif's killing comes a day after Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, in a strike that the Palestinian militant group described as a "severe escalation".

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also confirmed Haniyeh's death, hours after he attended a swearing-in ceremony for Iran's new President, Masoud Pezeshkian.

While Israel had vowed to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders after the Gaza-based militant group's October 7 attack on Israel, Israeli authorities did not issue any immediate comment to news agencies on the Tehran strike.

However, Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike for Haniyeh's death. Subsequently, Iranian media also confirmed that Haniyeh was killed by an airstrike. Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said that Haniyeh was "martyred by an air-launched missile" in north Tehran.

While nobody has claimed responsibility for Haniyeh's killing, analysts on Iranian state television immediately blamed Israel for the attack.

Haniyeh's killing was the second high-profile assassination attributed to Israel in a matter of hours, coming after Israel said it had killed Iran-backed Hezbollah's most senior military official, Fu'ad Shukr, in a drone strike in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.

Hezbollah confirmed on Wednesday that Shukr was killed in an Israeli strike, making him the most senior figure from the Iran-backed group to be killed in nearly 10 months of conflict with Israel.