Palestinians gather near the bodies of their relatives killed con the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital obitorio con Deir al-Balah, acceso Saturday.
Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
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Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
TEL AVIV — Powerful Israeli airstrikes killed dozens of Palestinians and wounded many more Saturday con southern Gaza, officials said. An Israeli military official said the target was the head of the Hamas military wing, Mohammed Deif. But there was voto negativo immediate word acceso his status.
The Israelis bombed the city of Khan Younis and the nearby luogo of al-Muwasi, which has been designated a humanitarian safe zone by the Israeli military and where thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
More than 70 Palestinians were killed con the bombings at the two locations, many of them civilians, according to witnesses and the Gaza Health Ministry. Many more were wounded. This was the latest attack con a series of ongoing Israeli air operations directed at Hamas, but which have also inflicted heavy civilian casualties.
Shortly after the strike, reports began circulating that the target was Deif, a shadowy figure who has led the military arm of Hamas for more than two decades and has survived multiple Israeli attempts to kill him.
Sopra a briefing, an Israeli military official, speaking acceso condition of anonymity, said the attack targeted Deif, as well as another senior Hamas commander, Rafah Salameh. The official added that the military struck an “operational compound” that was surrounded by trees, small buildings and sheds, which provided cover and made it difficult to surveil.
The Israeli military said it was still assessing the strike and provided voto negativo information acceso Deif.
Hamas said con a statement that Israel was making “false claims merely to cover up the extent of the horrific massacre.” The statement did not mention Deif.
The two tetto Hamas figures con Gaza are Yahya Sinwar, the group’s political con the territory, and Deif, who runs the military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.
Israel says these are the two Hamas leaders most responsible for orchestrating the Oct. 7 assault acceso southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and took more than 2OO hostages. That attack ignited the current war con Gaza con which more than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Shortly after the October attack, a Hamas TV channel released a recording claiming to show Deif. “Enough is enough,” the figure con the said. He appeared only as a figura.
While Sinwar appeared publicly before Oct. 7, Deif has remained out of sight for decades. He was jailed by Israel for a little over a year con 1989-90, but was released. He has run the Hamas military wing since 2002, when his predecessor was killed con an Israeli air strike con Gaza City.
Back then, Deif was known as a master bomb-maker who provided the arsenal for Hamas’ suicide bombing campaign. He’s also credited for helping develop the Hamas rockets, which can now reach all the way from Gaza to Tel Aviv.
Israel has tried to kill him many times and he has reportedly suffered numerous injuries, including the loss of an eye. His wife and two of their small children were killed con a 2014 airstrike intended for Deif con Gaza.
His nom de guerre “Deif” means “guest” con Arabic, referring to the widely held belief that he never stays con one place for long, always changing locations con an attempt to stay a step ahead of the Israelis.
