(Bloomberg) -- Israel targeted Mohammed Deif and Rafa Salama, two alleged masterminds behind the Oct. 7 attacks, though it was unclear whether either was killed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
At least 90 people died and more than 300 were injured in an air strike in the Khan Younis area of the central Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Witnesses said Hamas had brought in at least one bulldozer to search through the wreckage in an area that the Israeli military had designated as a safe zone for Palestinian refugees.
Military chief Deif ranks second only to Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ top leader in Gaza; Salama is the commander of Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade.
In a news conference Saturday evening, Netanyahu suggested that he didn’t believe the strike would be a setback for the long-running talks on a cease-fire. Earlier this week, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said negotiators have made progress on a deal but tamped down hopes of an agreement soon.
The prime minister said he stands by the outlines of the cease-fire backed by the US. But he contended Hamas has requested more changes, and that Israel remains committed to several goals, including the right to meet its war aims and the release of as many live hostages in the first phase of a three-stage deal.
On its X account, the Israel Defense Forces said immediately after the strike that “two senior Hamas terrorists and additional terrorists” had hidden among civilians in the area. The IDF didn’t initially identify the Hamas operatives.
Witnesses said the air strikes targeted a building in the Mawasi area and surrounding tent camps west of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza strip, where displaced Palestinians have taken shelter following IDF operations in Rafah and other parts of the strip.
Israel is preparing for possible retaliation, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant instructed security forces to be fully prepared on all combat fronts.
An Israeli official said that the IDF struck a fenced, open area that was a Hamas-run compound, in which Deif and Salama were believed to be located. The strike carried out based on high-quality intelligence gathered by the IDF and ISA that aimed to target militants alone, said the official, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.
Hamas — which is designated as a terrorist organization by the US and the EU — questioned Israel’s claims that its targets were group leaders. The group called the strike an “unprecedented and dangerous escalation.”
Israel launched a punishing war against Hamas in Gaza following the Oct. 7 attacks on southern Israel in which almost 1,200 people were killed and 250 abducted – 120 of whom are still being held in Gaza.
The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia both condemned the recent action.
Hamas, which does not differentiate between civilians and militants, says that more than 38,000 people were killed in the war.
--With assistance from Fadwa Hodali.
(Updates with Saudi and UAE comments)
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
