Israeli forces confirmed it killed Hamas top military leader during airstrike

Mohammed Deif, Hamas’s military commander and who is believed to be the terrorist organization’s No. 2 in command, was confirmed by Israel on Thursday morning to be killed during an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. The military operation that killed Deif happened on July 13. 

The Israel Defense Forces announced its findings with a post on X early Thursday morning. 

“We can now confirm: Mohammed Deif was eliminated,” read the post from the IDF. 

Israel’s military also released a statement regarding the revelations in its findings. 

“The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) announces that on July 13th, 2024, IDF fighter jets struck in the area of Khan Yunis, and following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike,” read the statement.

Deif was credited with being one of the architects behind the bloody Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Reuters reported. He was one of the founders of the Qassam Brigades, the military unit of Hamas, which orchestrated many attacks on Israel, including numerous suicide bombings on Israeli “buses and at cafes,” the Associated Press reported. 

The confirmed death of Deif comes a day after it was announced that Hamas’s top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in Iran on Wednesday. The terrorist organization blamed Israel for his death.

“The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas mourns the sons of our great Palestinian people, the Arab and Islamic nation, and all the free people of the world: the brother leader, martyr, Mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, head of the movement, who was killed as a result of a Zionist raid,” Hamas announced. “He left his residence in Tehran, after participating in the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president. We belong to God, and to Him we shall return, and indeed, it is a jihad, victory, or martyrdom of the Islamic Resistance Movement.”

Iran vowed to retaliate against Israel for Haniyeh’s death. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned of dire consequences.

“The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our house and made us bereaved,” Khamenei said in a statement. He added that Israel “also prepared the ground for a harsh punishment for itself.”