IDF increasingly confident Hamas military chief Deif was killed in strike

The Israel Defense Forces increasingly believes that Muhammad Deif, the commander of Hamas’s military wing, was killed in Saturday’s airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip, although it is still awaiting final confirmation before making a public announcement.

The IDF believes that its intelligence indicating that Deif arrived at a compound belonging to Rafa’a Salameh, the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, was highly accurate, and that the pair were together in the building when it was targeted with several heavy munitions.

Salameh was killed in the strike, the IDF announced Sunday after obtaining final confirmation on the matter. It has yet to receive the same kind of information on Deif, and the IDF believes Hamas will try to hide his death for a while.

According to IDF assessments, military pressure exerted on Hamas caused Deif to venture out from the underground tunnels where he was thought to be hiding, and join Salameh, who had been at the compound for several weeks.

The military has also assessed that a very low number of civilians were harmed in the attack, despite its proximity to tent camps for displaced Palestinians in the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone.