The Israel Defense Force has confirmed that an attack was launched in Gaza targeting two senior Hamas leaders, one of whom had a direct role in planning the October 7 attacks.
Israeli authorities announced early Saturday that the attack hit a Hamas compound in al-Mawasi, southern Gaza.
“Mohammed Deif, Hamas' top military commander, was the target of an Israeli strike today in al-Mawasi,” two Israeli sources told Fox News Digital. “The damage caused by the battle is currently being assessed to determine whether he was killed. Deif is one of the masterminds behind the October 7 massacre.”
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Images released by the Israel Defense Forces show the al-Mawasi area, which was attacked on Saturday. (FDI)
The alleged Hamas-controlled compound was located in a civilian area containing tent shelters for displaced refugees.
The Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Public Health said the attack killed a total of 71 people.
“Hamas leaders always cynically infiltrate among civilians and in civilian areas,” a military official said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “We know that other militants and guards were present in the compound and are presumed dead. We cannot relate the number of Palestinian casualties.”
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Undated photo of Mohamed Deif, the mastermind behind Hamas' suicide bombings and the 7 October terror attacks. Israeli authorities reportedly had Deif in their sights when they launched the attack on Al-Mawasi. (Reuters)
The IDF does not believe there were any Israeli hostages present at the compound.
Deif has been the commander of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades since Marwan Abdel Karim Ali Issa was killed in an airstrike in Nuseirat in March.
The Hamas commander was also identified as a key architect of the Oct. 7 terror attacks that killed more than 1,100 Israelis and sparked the current conflict.
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A Palestinian woman carries an injured child to the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza. The Hamas-run Gaza Public Health Agency reported that the Israeli attack killed an estimated 71 people and wounded many others in the camp. (EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images)
Rafa Salama, commander of Hamas' Khan Yunis Brigade, was also targeted and is believed to have been inside the compound.
“In a joint action by the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Intelligence Agency based on accurate information, the Israel Defense Forces Southern Command and the Israeli Air Force carried out a strike in an area where two senior Hamas terrorists and other terrorists were hiding among civilians,” Israeli authorities announced in a separate statement on Saturday. “The location of the strike was an open area surrounded by trees, several buildings and sheds.”
Saudi media outlet Al Hadath reports that Salama was killed in the attack, but that report has not been verified by Israeli or U.S. officials.
