Al-Qassam Commander, Muhammad Deif survived IDF strikes, says Hamas

No, we killed him, his deputies – IDF

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza – The armed wing of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, Hamas has insisted that Al-Qassam Commander, Muhammad Deif is safe and not dead as the Israeli Defence Forces, IDF has announced.

In a statement, Hamas said that contrary to reports published by IDF, Muhammad Deif is alive and fine.

“Israel carried out an assassination attempt on Al-Qassam Commander, Muhammad Deif, in the Gaza Strip; he is fine, the attempt was unsuccessful but led to a large number of civilian casualties”, Hamas said.

Not less that 70 civilians were reportedly killed when the IDF strikes hit the Al Shati and Mawasi Refugee camp in Khan Younis.

Speaking on the incident, Chief of General Staff in Israel, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said Muhammad Deif was killed during the strike.

According to him, for about two months the IDF has been operating in Rafah and achieving significant military achievements.

He said that yesterday, in a joint operation by the IDF and the ISA, the Command struck a compound in Khan Yunis where Mohammed Deif, the Commander of Hamas’ Military Wing, was hiding – the man who planned and gave the order for the attack on October 7th.

“Next to him, Rafa’a Salameh, Commander of the Khan Yunis Brigade and with them other terrorists and accomplices.

” This strike is the result of an operational capability that we have built, which combines the advanced intelligence capabilities of the ISA and the Intelligence Directorate (J2) and the very high quality planning and implementation capabilities of the Israeli Air Force.

” According to the intelligence available to us at the time of the strike, there were no hostages in the compound”, he said, adding that the information that emerged after the strike, no hostages were harmed in the strike.

“It is very important for me to emphasize this. It is still too early to conclude the results of the strike, which Hamas is trying to hide. We are determined to continue and pursue senior Hamas officials, those who planned and carried out the October 7th Massacre and dedicated their lives to the murder of innocent civilians.

“Mohammed Deif was afraid to die, so he hid in a way that even damaged his ability to command. He hid and sacrificed with him his people and civilians who were in the area, who were in danger, very few of whom were harmed. We found him, we will also find those next in line”, he said.