Mohammed Deif, Hamas Military Chief Is Still Alive: Senior Official

The commander of Hamas armed wing, Mohammed Deif is still alive as per the movement’s senior official, Osama Hamdan. The Hamas official cleared the air over the Israeli claim to have killed the head of the Izz al-Din al Qassam Brigades.

Osama Hamdan in an interview with the Associated Press (AP), reportedly said that the Hamas leader is ‘fine’. Israeli has claimed on August 1 that Deif was killed in an air strike on 13 July. However, provided no further details.

Read also: Hamas Leadership After Ismail Haniyeh: Who Are The Key Figures Now?

According to Hamdan, Hamas believes that Deif was the target of the July attack by Israel in the humanitarian zone in Southern Gaza’s Khan Younis in which 88 Palestinians were killed and 289 were wounded. In the July attack, Israeli bombs struck tents housing displaced people in the al-Mawasi district of Khan Younis. As per the local sources, a missile hit the Ajrar gas complex which led to an explosion, while another missile struck a water desalination plant.

The Israeli army radio said that defense sources identified Mohammed Deif as the main target of the strikes. However, during the attack, Hamas dismissed the claim. The Hamas leaders reportedly said that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to declare a ‘fake victory’ by announcing the assassination of Deif.

Read also: 2.5 Million Girls Denied Of Education Since Taliban Return

In May, the International Criminal Court (ICC) named Deif to issue an arrest warrant on charges of extermination, murder, hostage-taking,  and sexual assault and torture. The other two were Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar against whom arrest warrants were issued by the ICC.

Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant were also being sought by the ICC for arrest warrants on war crimes and crimes against humanity.