IDF: Senior Hamas Commander Killed in Strike Last Month

Muhammad al-Masri, more commonly known as Muhammad Deif and purported to be one of the masterminds behind Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, has been confirmed to have been killed in a strike last month, according to a a statement from the Israeli military. 

“Following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Muhammad Deif was eliminated in the strike,” the IDF statement read, in reference to a July 13 strike on the city of Khan Younis. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 90 people were killed in the vicinity of the strike. 

Deif had been a top target for the IDF since 1995, and survived eight earlier assassination attempts, including one in 2014 that killed his wife and two of his children. 

The Al-Qassam Brigades have neither confirmed nor denied Deif’s death. “No news published in the media or by any other parties can be confirmed,” announced the militant group in a post on Telegram. 

The announcement of Deif’s death comes on the heels of the assassination of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran on Wednesday. Deif, alongsides Haniyeh and Hamas’s leader in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, was wanted under a warrant from the International Criminal Court.