[News] Hamas confirms Mohammed Deif survived assassination attempt

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Hamas confirms Mohammed Deif survived assassination attempt

Israel claimed that the Hamas military leader was killed in the strike on
southern Gaza's Al-Mawasi last month, which massacred dozens of civilians

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

AUG 15, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/hamas-confirms-mohammed-deif-survived-assassination-attempt
A billboard in Israel with pictures of Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and
Muhammad Deif, with the word "eliminated" above. (Photo credit: Heidi
Levine/The Washington Post)

A senior Hamas official said in an interview on 15 August that the group’s
military leader Mohammed Deif – whose death Israel announced at the start
of this month – is, in fact, alive.

“Mohammed Deif is fine,” senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said in an
interview with AP on Thursday.

“What the Israelis did by mentioning his name was an excuse to justify the
massacre, because it was an ugly massacre and it was in an area which
Israel had said was a safe-zone,” Hamdan added.

Israel launched massive strikes
<https://thecradle.co/articles/dozens-killed-as-israel-strikes-al-mawasi-safe-zone-in-gaza>
on southern Gaza’s Al-Mawasi region on 13 July. The attacks, which targeted
a designated “safe-zone” resulted in the killing of at least 90 Palestinian
civilians and the wounding of hundreds more.

According to details <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/25945> published by
the *New York Times* (NYT) on 14 July, the Israeli army – before launching
the brutal strikes on 13 July – had spent weeks monitoring a villa in the
southern Gaza Strip where it believed another top Hamas leader, Rafaa
Salameh, was hiding out.

The Israeli army was hoping that Deif would show up at the villa, and
carried out the attacks after receiving intelligence that he appeared to be
present.

Tel Aviv said
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-waited-weeks-to-strike-salamehs-compound-in-hope-deif-would-visit-report/>
after the strike that Salameh’s killing was verified but that it was
uncertain if Deif – the main target – had been successfully assassinated.

Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya told *Al Jazeera* on 13 July in a message
addressed to Netanyahu: “Mohammed Deif is listening to you now and laughing
at your empty statements.”

Weeks later, on 1 August, the Israeli army said it had confirmed
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/gallant-crosses-deif-off-on-wall-chart-military-commanders-killing-is-big-step-toward-eradicating-hamas/>
that Deif was killed in the brutal Al-Mawasi strike, with Defense Minister
Yoav Gallant photographed crossing the Qassam Brigades leader off a list.

“The killing of the master murderer Mohammed Deif, the ‘Bin Laden of Gaza,’
on July 13, 2024, is a big step,” Gallant said.

Deif has been on Israel’s most-wanted list for over three decades. The
Qassam Brigades leader has survived at least seven Israeli assassination
attempts and was previously said to be possibly missing an eye and some
limbs.

In December, a Hebrew report revealing new video evidence obtained by the
Israeli army showed Deif walking on two legs shocked the Israeli public.
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