KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip – Israel said it was targeting Hamas’ shady military commander in a massive attack Saturday in the crowded south of the Gaza Strip that killed at least 71 people, according to local health officials. Hamas immediately rejected the claim that Mohammed Deif was targeted.
It was not immediately known whether Deif was among the dead. Israeli officials confirmed that he and a second Hamas commander, Rafa Salama, were the targets. A military official later said they were “still checking and verifying the outcome of the attack” and did not deny that it took place within Israel’s designated safe zone.
Many believe that Deif was the main architect of the October 7 attack that killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and triggered the Israel-Hamas war. Second only to the top Hamas official in Gaza, Yahya Sinwarhe has been at the top of Israel’s most wanted list for years and is believed to have escaped several Israeli assassination attempts in the past.
If Deif is killed, ceasefire negotiations could be derailed by what would be seen as a major Israeli victory in the nine-month war.
“These false allegations are merely a cover-up of the scale of the terrible massacre,” Hamas said in a statement responding to Israel.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 289 other people were injured in the attack – one of the deadliest of the war – and that many dead and injured were taken to the overwhelmed Nasser Hospital nearby. There, Associated Press journalists counted more than 40 bodies. Witnesses described an attack that included several strikes.
“Several victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense teams are unable to reach them,” the Ministry of Health said.
The Israeli military stated that “other terrorists hid among civilians” and described the location of the attack as an area surrounded by trees, several buildings and barracks.
Images of the aftermath showed a huge crater, charred tents, burned cars and household belongings scattered across the blackened earth. Victims were carried on the hoods and backs of cars, and in carts pulled by donkeys and carpets.
Witnesses said the attack took place inside Muwasi, the Israeli-designated safe zone that stretches from northern Rafah to Khan Younis. The coastal strip is where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled in search of safety, sheltering mostly in suffocating makeshift tents and with few services.
“This was designated as a safe zone full of people from the north,” said a displaced Palestinian who did not give his name. “All the children were martyred here. We collect its pieces with our hands.” He estimated there were seven or eight missiles and said first responders were also targeted.
At the hospital, a baby wearing a pink shirt and his face covered in sand cried as he received first aid. A little boy was lying motionless on the other side of the bed, without a shoe. The victims lay in blood splattered on the floor, and their bodies were wrapped in white plastic with their names scrawled in marker.
An Israeli official said the attack was carried out inside a fenced-off area of Khan Younis administered by Hamas, but did not specify the precise location, saying it was not a tent compound but an operational compound. The official described the attack as precise and said it was estimated that many of the victims were “terrorists”.
Deif has been in hiding for more than two decades and is believed to be paralyzed. One of the only known images of him is a 30-year-old mugshot released by Israel. Even in Gaza, only a handful of people would recognize him.
Meanwhile, US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators continue to press to reduce disparities between Israel and Hamas over a proposed agreement for a three-phase ceasefire and hostage release plan in Gaza.
The US-backed proposal calls for an initial ceasefire with a limited release of hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from populated areas of Gaza. At the same time, the two sides will negotiate the terms of the second phase, which is expected to bring the full release of the hostages in exchange for a permanent ceasefire and Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza after Hamas attack on October 7 in which militants invaded southern Israel and kidnapped around 250 people.
Since then, Israeli ground offensives and bombings have killed more than 38,400 people in Gaza and injured more than 88,000, according to the territory’s report. Ministry of health. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.
More than 80 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes and most are now crammed into squalid camps, facing widespread hunger.
