The <keyword id="19910503" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Israel-Defence-Forces" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Israel Defence Forces" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Israel Defence Forces">Israel Defence Forces</keyword> (IDF) on Thursday announced that <keyword id="19900598" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Hamas" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Hamas" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Hamas">Hamas</keyword> military wing commander Mohammed Deif had been killed in an <keyword id="19952187" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="airstrike" source="keywords">airstrike</keyword> in the southern <keyword id="19906532" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gaza-Strip" source="keywords">Gaza Strip</keyword> on July 13. In a post on X, IDF stated, "We can now confirm: Mohammed Deif was eliminated." <div type="twitter" handle="IDF" handlename="IDF" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" id="1818926099432161437"></div>The Israeli military said that it obtained intelligence confirming his death in the past few hours. Deif was targeted in a strike at Hamas' Khan Younis Brigade commander Rafa'a Salameh's compound in Khan Younis area on July 13, The Times of Israel reported. A day later, the IDF confirmed the death of Salameh. However, it did not have final information on Deif. The IDF believed that its intelligence indicated that Deif visiting the compound belonging to Salameh was highly accurate and the two Hamas military officials were together in the building that was hit with several heavy munitions, according to The Times of Israel report. Israeli fighter jets had patrolled the building for half a day before conducting the strike after the IDF had early indications that Deif was with Samaleh. The two jets were in the air above the site. After the military received confirmation that Deif had arrived at the compound, the jets were given the order to target, which was conducted within just a few minutes, according to The Times of Israel report. Israel's confirmation regarding Deif comes a day after Hamas' political bureau chief <keyword id="19944483" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ismail-Haniyeh" source="keywords">Ismail Haniyeh</keyword> was killed in an attack in Iran's capital, <keyword id="20024069" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tehran" source="keywords">Tehran</keyword>, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Wednesday, Press TV reported. In a statement to Mehr News Agency, the IRGC said that Ismail Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed after their residence was targeted in Tehran. "With condolences to the heroic nation of <keyword id="20038596" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Palestine" source="keywords">Palestine</keyword> and the Islamic nation and the combatants of the Resistance Front and the noble nation of Iran, this morning (Wednesday) the residence of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political office of the Islamic Resistance of Hamas, was hit in Tehran, and following this incident, he and one of his bodyguards were martyred," the statement read. Ismail Haniyeh, who is based in Qatar, was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Iranian President-elect, Masoud Pezeshkian, according to a Press TV report. On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister <keyword id="19904826" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Benjamin-Netanyahu" source="keywords">Benjamin Netanyahu</keyword> said that his nation has delivered "crushing blows" to enemies in the last few days, CNN reported. He made the remarks hours after the deaths of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and senior <keyword id="19925799" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hezbollah" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Hezbollah" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Hezbollah">Hezbollah</keyword> commander Fuad Shukr. In his address to the nation, Netanyahu did not claim Israel's responsibility for Haniyeh's killing. Notably, Israel has neither confirmed nor denied being behind Haniyeh's assassination. "Three weeks ago, we attacked the military chief of Hamas, Mohammad Deif. Two weeks ago we attacked the Houthis, in one of the farthest attacks the Air Force has carried out. Yesterday we attacked the military chief of Hezbollah, Fuad Shukr," the Israeli PM said. Netanyahu said Israel is facing "challenging days" and it will "settle the score" with anyone who harms the country. "These are challenging days. There are threats From Beirut. We are ready for any scenario. We are prepared," CNN quoted him as saying. "We'll settle the score with anyone who harms us, anyone who massacres our children, anyone who murders our citizens, anyone who hurts our nation, blood is on his head," Netanyahu added. He further affirmed that Israel will keep fighting until the aims of the war are achieved. Netanyahu referenced previous calls he has received to end the war in Gaza, saying, "I did not give in then and I am not giving in today." Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced a national day of mourning on Wednesday over the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, as he condemned the killing as a "cowardly act and dangerous development," The Times of Israel reported. Palestinian flags were flown at half-staff for the day, the Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported, as Palestinian factions announced a general strike and called for demonstrations in the West Bank.

Another Hamas military leader Muhammad Deif killed in airstrike, Israel Defence Forces announces

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Israeli is focused on hunting down a Hamas leader whom they blame for the October 7 attacks.</li><li>Yahya Sinwar is surrounded in the ruins of Gaza City, Israel's defense minister said.</li></ul>Israeli forces have Hamas' top leader surrounded in the ruins of Gaza City, Israel's defense minister said.Yahya Sinwar, 61, is considered to be the mastermind behind the October 7 terrorist attacks on southern Israel that left 1,400 people dead and more than 240 hostages abducted to Gaza.The Hamas government and its offices are based in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-gallant-announces-complete-siege-gaza-no-electricity-food-fuel-2023-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gaza City, which is currently under siege by Israeli forces</a>. Earlier this week, Yoav Gallant, Israel's defense minister, said in a TV press statement, <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/no-ceasefire-but-tactical-little-pauses-in-gaza-says-netanyahu-q5cck27mk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per The Times.</a> Sinwar was "hiding in his bunker without contact with his associates," Gallant said before vowing to eliminate him.He said that Sinwar, the overall head of Hamas in the Gaza enclave, who has been described by Israeli officials as "a dead man walking," was surrounded, although he did not specify where.On Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that its troops of the 7th Brigade had raided the office of Sinwar's brother, Muhammad, capturing military documents and killing 30 "terrorists."Sinwar was freed in a prisoner swap after years in an Israeli prison in 2011. Back in Gaza, he worked closely with Mohammed Deif, the commander of the Iz Ad Din Al Qassam Brigades — Hamas's military wing and a "specially designated global terror group," according to US authorities.Sinwar and Deif were central to the planning of the October 7 attacks, it is believed.<h2>The 'new face of evil'</h2><div type="image" title="Palestinian militants march with their weapons in Khan Younis refugee camp south of the Gaza Strip March 27, 2005." height="1254" width="1672" msid="104448160" hostid="261"></div>Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Sinwar was <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/yahya-sinwar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, in 1962</a>, according to The Jewish Virtual Library. His parents fled the southern city of Ashkelon in Israel. He pursued Arabic studies at the Islamic University of Gaza.In the 1980s, Sinwar's job was to kill Gazans who collaborated with Israel, per The Economist.He spent 24 years in prison for crimes including the murder of two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinian men he had accused of collaborating.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hamas-gaza-leader-survived-tumor-operation-israel-reports-2023-10?r=US&amp;IR=T">Israeli doctors reportedly saved his life</a> in 2006 after operating on a brain tumor during his incarceration.He left prison fluent in Hebrew after his release in a prisoner swap for the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was being held hostage in Gaza.In 2015, the US Department of State designated Sinwar a terrorist."We will take down the border, and we will tear their hearts from their bodies," Sinwar reportedly said in 2018, as quoted by the IDF.On October 7, under Sinwar's leadership, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/11-israel-hamas-dramatic-images-surprise-attack-israel-2023-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hundreds of Hamas fighters breached the fences surrounding Gaza</a>, after drones knocked out hi-tech observation towers and a huge rocket barrage was unleashed on Israel. They poured into southern Israel's surrounding kibbutzes and towns, committing massacres in coordinated terrorist attacks.Former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid dubbed him the <a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/378486" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"new face of evil</a>.""That man is in our sights," said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, a military spokesman, per The New York Times. "He's a dead man walking, and we will get to that man," he said. He is considered to be a key figure connecting Hamas's politburo with the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, per The European Council on Foreign Relations.Israel has arrested Sinwar multiple times, and he has spent 24 years in prison, per the European Council of Foreign Relations. He was released during a prisoner exchange with Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011.A 2022 security analysis determined that the <a href="https://www.inss.org.il/strategic_assessment/pa-weakness/">Palestinian Authority's weakness and Israel's inaction</a> on undermining Hamas' control strengthened Sinwar and Hamas' leadership. Hamas was able to connect various fronts against Israel, per The Institute for National Security Studies of Tel-Aviv UniversityThe analysis predicted that the temporary calm amid Sinwar and Hamas' increased power would exact a "heavy toll from Israel in longer, strategic terms."The IDF said destroying Gaza's leadership was its ultimate goal as it prepares to launch a ground invasion of the besieged city, The New York Times reports. Thousands of Hamas militants are believed to have entrenched themselves in an elaborate network of underground tunnels in northern Gaza. The invasion's goal will be "the rout of Hamas and the elimination of its leaders after the slaughter they perpetrated," said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the IDF's chief spokesman, per The Times.

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Another Hamas military leader Muhammad Deif killed in airstrike, Israel Defence Forces announces

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The mastermind of Hamas' October 7 terrorist attacks is cornered in a bunker, says Israel

Rebecca Rommen