After remaining quiet for most of the day Wednesday, Hamas officials announced late Wednesday that Gaza terror chief Mohammad Deif was not in the home targeted by Israel late Tuesday and was still alive. Deif has survived multiple assassination attempts, lives in hiding and is believed to be paralyzed from previous attempts on his life.
Hamas military wing Abu Obeida said Israel was “unable to get to our commander Deif,” adding that he would “lead the army that will enter to liberate the holy al-Aqsa mosque” in Jerusalem. Earlier however, a different Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri had referred to Deif on Hamas TV as “the dead man” in an apparent slip of the tongue.
Muhammad Deif
Fox News quoted a senior Israeli official saying that Jerusalem believed Deif was killed in the strike.
Asked whether Deif had been targeted, Netanyahu said late Wednesday: “The leaders of terror organizations are legitimate targets… No one is immune.”
The house belonged to a family of known Hamas supporters. In footage taken after the strike, rescue workers were seen searching for survivors in the rubble where the building once stood.
Relatives of 27-year-old Widad Deif, the wife of Hamas’s military commander Mohammed Deif, carry her body during her funeral procession at the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on August 20, 2014. (photo credit: AFP Photo/Roberto Schmidt)
Thousands of people attended the funeral for Deif’s wife and son, who were killed in the strike. Mourners chanted “revenge” during the procession.
In a televised statement, Abu Obeida also warned international airlines against flying into Israel starting Thursday. Earlier in the conflict, many airlines suspended flights into Israel after a rocket landed in a town near Israel’s main international airport.
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