Hamas confirms death of military chief Mohammed Deif

Hamas has confirmed that its navy chief, Mohammed Deif, has been killed.

Israel’s navy mentioned it had killed Deif in July final yr, however Hamas had not confirmed this till now.

Israel says Deif was one of many figures chargeable for planning the 7 October assaults in southern Israel during which 1,200 folks had been killed and 251 taken hostage.

Deif was broadly seen because the second-ranking Hamas official in Gaza, behind Yahya Sinwar, the group’s chief within the territory, who was additionally killed by Israeli forces final yr.

Judges on the Worldwide Legal Court docket (ICC) final yr issued an arrest warrant for Deif, alongside Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant.

Deif was recognized to have helped engineer the development of tunnels which have allowed Hamas fighters to enter Israel from Gaza. He was additionally credited with designing Hamas’s signature weapon, the Qassam rocket.

In its assertion on Thursday, Hamas additionally introduced the loss of life of deputy navy commander Marwan Issa.

The US introduced Issa’s loss of life in March final yr.

Issa was the deputy commander of Hamas’s navy wing and was thought-about one in all Israel’s most-wanted males. The European Union, which positioned the Hamas chief on its terrorist blacklist, linked him on to the 7 October assault.

The most recent struggle was triggered when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023.

Israel’s 15-month navy offensive killed greater than 47,460 Palestinians within the territory, in response to Gaza’s Hamas-run well being ministry.

A ceasefire between Hamas and Israel got here into impact on 19 January.

A complete of 15 Israeli hostages have been freed since then.

Up to now, 400 Palestinian prisoners – starting from these serving lengthy sentences for bombings and different assaults to youngsters held with out cost – have been launched.

Most have returned to the occupied West Financial institution, East Jerusalem and Gaza, whereas about 70 of probably the most severe offenders have been deported.