‘Escalating Genocide’: Israel Tries to Hunt Down Hamas Leader in Humanitarian Zone, Kills Over 70 Civilians

This Saturday, the city of Khan Younis became the scene of a new massacre. In an attempt to kill Mohammed Deif, the military leader of Hamas and one of the organizers of the October 7 attacks, Israel launched rockets into the southern Gaza Strip, killing more than 70 people and wounding 289.

Mohammed Deif, one of Israel’s most wanted men and the survivor of seven assassination attempts, was holed up in a building in a humanitarian zone called al-Mawasi, west of the southern city of Khan Younis. It is unclear whether the leader of the Islamic group was among the dead.

The Israeli military said the attack on Deif took place in a “Hamas compound” and that “most of the people present were militants.” However, the international press has stressed that the victims were mostly civilians, as a camp for displaced persons from the war was hit.

“Today we were caught off guard by an Israeli missile. Everyone was left in pieces,” he said. Al Jazeera witness to the Israeli bombing of the Shati refugee camp. The victims had decided to gather in a room to pray when they were attacked.

A senior Hamas official called Israel’s accusations “absurd.” “All the martyrs are civilians and what happened was a major escalation in the genocidal war supported by the Americans and the general silence,” Abu Zuhri told the agency. Reuters.

According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the army acted on precise information about the whereabouts of Mohammed Deif and Rafa Salama, the commander of Hamas’ Khan Yunis Brigade.

Deif is a key figure in the group, rising through the ranks over more than 30 years. He developed Hamas’s tunnel network and bomb-making expertise and topped Israel’s most-wanted list for decades, holding him personally responsible for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings.

In the months since Israel launched its retaliation campaign following the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, a military commander has been directing operations from Gaza’s tunnels and alleys, explains Reuters.

After the October 7 attacks killed more than 1,200 people and took nearly 250 hostages, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to kill the three men behind the plan: Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Deif, the head of the military wing, and Marwan Issa, his deputy, whose death Israel announced in March.