Israel says Hamas commander likely killed despite denial

The supreme commander of Hamas’s Qassam Brigades, he has been such a shadowy figure that the only known picture of him dates back to when he was a teenager

Published Jul 14, 2024 • 2 minute read

An undated handout photo reportedly shows Mohammed Deif, the chief of Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas at an undisclosed location. Photo by – /HANDOUT/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli security officials said Sunday they were pretty confident their targeted attack against Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif was successful despite the terror group’s denial.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they’d been following Deif’s movements for a couple of days, pinpointed his location and carried out an attack on Saturday that would have been hard to survive. Rafa Salama, a Hamas brigade commander, was killed in the attack, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement, which didn’t refer to Deif.

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If Deif did escape, it wouldn’t be the first time. The supreme commander of Hamas’s Qassam Brigades, he has been such a shadowy figure that the only known picture of him dates back to when he was a teenager. He’s been on the run for two decades and has never appeared in public.

The assessment by Israeli security analysts is that his death — if confirmed — will be a major blow against Hamas and will help force the group to close the deal currently being negotiated for a ceasefire to return Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and bring aid to the Gaza Strip.

To many outsiders, such a claim seems counter-intuitive: a deadly attack during negotiations isn’t likely to inspire flexibility. But Israeli officials are persuaded that the only way to get Hamas to close a ceasefire deal is by cornering it and eliminating its commanders.

“In recent weeks, we have identified clear cracks in Hamas under the power of the blows we are raining on them. We see changes. We see weakness,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a news conference.

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The latest operation “also contributes to this, whatever its results are. Hamas’s commanders are hiding in underground tunnels and are cut off from their forces in the field. The Gazan population understands more and more the magnitude of the disaster that Hamas has inflicted on it,” he said.

The military said that Salama joined Hamas in the early 1990s, has headed its Khan Younis brigade since 2016 and was one of the masterminds of the October 7 attacks on southern Israel. His elimination significantly impedes the terror group’s military capabilities, it said.

Early on Sunday, AFP, the French news agency, reported that Hamas was withdrawing from the talks. One of the group’s top officials later issued a denial, saying it wasn’t going to allow Netanyahu “to block the way to reaching an agreement that stops the aggression against our people.”

Tamir Hayman, a former head of Israel’s military intelligence, said in an online column for Channel 12 that the assassination was the right move.

“The ongoing military pressure led Hamas field commanders to demand a pause in the fighting,” he wrote. “Add to that calls by the Palestinian public that has paid a very high price over the extended duration of the war and the mounting criticism of Hamas.”

Bloomberg

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