Hamas Confirms death of Military Chief Mohammed Deif in Gaza

Gaza: The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, has announced that its military chief, Mohammed Deif, was killed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. In a statement on Thursday, Abu Obeida, spokesperson for the brigades, also confirmed that Marwan Issa, Al-Qassam's deputy chief of staff, had been killed, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The enemy has assassinated two of our great leaders, but their legacy and resistance will continue," Obeida said.

He added that the assassination of Hamas military leaders will not stop the Palestinian resistance against Israel.

No additional details were provided.

On August 1, 2024, Israel's military claimed that it had killed Deif in an airstrike in southern Gaza's Khan Younis.

Israel has accused Deif of being one of the masterminds of the Hamas attack on southern Israeli towns on October 7, 2023.

Israel's military said it had killed Deif in July last year, but Hamas had not confirmed this until now.

Israel has said that Deif was one of the figures responsible for planning the October 7 attacks in southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

Deif was widely seen as the second-ranking Hamas official in Gaza, behind Yahya Sinwar, the group's leader in the territory, who was also killed by Israeli forces last year. In May 2024, the International Criminal Court said it was seeking arrest warrants for Deif and other senior Hamas figures, saying they had "reasonable grounds" to believe they bore responsibility for the October 7 attacks, which saw around 1,200 Israelis killed. (IANS)

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