“We can now confirm: Mohammed Deif was eliminated.” This is the short message on X in which Israel’s military (IDF) announces that it has killed the commander of the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing. Deif is said to have been the main man behind the Hamas attack against Israel on 7 October last year. Israel claims that Deif was killed in an attack on 13 July 2024 in the area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Hamas has not commented on the claim. – After an intelligence analysis, we can confirm that Mohammed Deif was killed in the attack, the IDF writes in a statement reproduced by Reuters. The mastermind behind 7 October 58-year-old Mohammed Deif has led the al-Qassam brigades for over 20 years. Deif is considered the architect of the October 7 attack, in which Hamas killed more than 1,000 Israelis and took 250 hostages. Since then he has been one of Israel’s main targets in the war. It is a setback when leaders disappear, says senior lecturer Dag Henrik Tuastad, Middle East researcher and expert on Palestinian politics at the University of Oslo (UiO). On the night of Wednesday, Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in an attack in Iran. Thus, two of Hamas’ three top leaders have been killed. Now only Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ supreme leader in the Gaza Strip, remains. – It is a big boost for Netanyahu. He has been steadfast, did not sign a ceasefire and said that they will eliminate Hamas, says Tuastad. Dag Henrik Tuastad believes that Hamas will find it difficult to conclude a ceasefire after the murders of top leaders. Photo: Frode Fjerdingstad How many leaders Israel must “eliminate” before they call it quits is, however, unclear, according to Tuastad: – The list of who they want to kill seems to be very long. It’s not like they’re done when they’ve killed the three, he says. Hamas is organized professionally, both militarily and politically: – When a leader disappears, he is replaced. After all, they are running a mini-state, and it is managed in such a way that when someone disappears, there are procedures to replace them. From left: Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s military branch in the Gaza Strip, Mohammed Deif, and the head of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. Haniyeh was killed in Iran on the night of Wednesday. Deif is said to have been killed in July, claims Israel. Photo: MAHMUD HAMS][- / AFP But with these murders, Tuastad believes the prospects for peace and a ceasefire are more distant than ever. – It will not turn out well to continue with negotiations. Hamas may want to consider new violent and military strategies rather than a ceasefire. Many leaders Not even historian and author Marte Heian-Engdal believes the murder of Deif will have major consequences for how Hamas operates. It was also no secret that Deif was one of Israel’s targets. They were probably prepared for someone to take over. – If you were Muhammed Deif this spring and summer, you knew there was a price tag on your head, says Heian-Engdal to news. Historian and author Marte Heian-Engdal believes the murder of Deif is symbolically important. Photo: Christian Breidlid – It is unlikely that the system is rigged in such a way that he is the only one who is responsible for keeping things in order, she emphasizes. But the murder of Deif still has a great symbolic value. Both for Israel, which has been trying to take Deif’s life for many years, and for Hamas and their supporters. – Inside Gaza, Yahya Sinwar is soon the only surviving really significant leader now. But it certainly means that there are a lot of names under there that are less known to the outside world, says Heian-Engdal. Attack on refugee camp Deif is said to have planned the October 7 attack together with Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar. Israel responded by attacking Gaza. The war has now raged for 300 days and claimed tens of thousands of Palestinian lives. In the months since, Deif is said to have led Hamas’ military operations in the Gaza Strip, according to Reuters. Among other things, Deif is said to have lived in Hamas’s network of tunnels under Gaza. He is said to have been killed when Israel bombed a refugee camp in Al-Mawasi, which is close to the town of Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip, on 13 July. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then said that the aim was to kill Mohammed Deif and the leader of the Khan Younis Brigades, Rafa Salama. Israel was quick to claim that Salama was killed in the attack. Deif’s fate has so far been unknown. Hamas claimed he was not killed in the attack. The Al-Mawasi refugee camp was located in what, according to Israel, was supposed to be a “safe zone” for civilians. Over 90 Palestinian civilians were killed in the attack, according to the authorities. Around 300 were injured. “The guest” Deif is known as a mysterious leader. Few know what he looks like. There are only four known pictures of him. His real name is Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri. “Deif” means “the guest” in Arabic, a nickname he is said to have been given because it is said that Deif does not spend more than one night in the same place to avoid being killed. This photo has been sent out by the IDF and is supposed to show the murdered Mohammed Deif. Below is the text “eliminated”. When the attacks against Israel began on October 7, Hamas’ TV channel published an audio clip. The sound should be Mohammed Deif’s voice. In the audio clip, Deif said, among other things, that the attacks were motivated by Israel’s occupation and military operations against the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. – Today the anger of al-Aqsa, the anger of our people and our nation is exploding. Our warriors: Today is your day to make sure this criminal understands that his time has come, Deif said in the recording. What consequences for the killings at the Hamas summits? And who are the possible heirs? Hear the P2 pulse: That same morning, the armed Palestinian group Islamic Jihad said it was joining the war. Targeted attacks The announcement that Deif will be killed comes after Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in a rocket attack on Iran’s capital Tehran on the night of Wednesday. Israel has not commented on the attack. On Tuesday evening, Israel killed Hezbollah’s deputy leader Fouad Shukr in an attack on Lebanon’s capital Beirut. Both Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, and the Hezbollah movement, based in Lebanon, are supported by Iran. Deif is also said to have been responsible for several of Hamas’s suicide operations. He is known for organizing terrorist attacks against Israel and is said to have been central to the establishment of Hamas’ extensive network of tunnels under the Gaza Strip. A group of men carry away a body after Israel attacked a refugee camp outside Khan Younis on July 13. Israel said the attack targeted Mohammed Deif. They confirm that Deif was killed in an attack against the same place that day. Photo: Jehad Alshrafi / AP After the October 7 attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel will destroy Hamas. He singled out three of the organization’s top leaders in particular: Hamas’ Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, Muhammed Deif and Deif’s second-in-command, Marwan Issa. Issa is said to have been killed in March. Interested in foreign affairs? Listen to the foreign affairs editor’s recent podcast: Published 01.08.2024, at 10.32 Updated 01.08.2024, at 14.09
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Israel claims to have killed Hamas’ military top in Gaza – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
