Situation at a glance: Israel: Hamas wants to conceal fate of military chief

After its air strike on the military chief of the Islamist Hamas, Israel’s army is feverishly trying to clarify his fate. Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi accused Hamas of trying to prevent this: “It is still too early to conclude the results of the attack, which Hamas is trying to conceal.” The army attacked Mohammed Deif on Saturday near Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. Dozens of people were killed. It is still unclear whether Deif is among the dead.

The Wall Street Journal quoted Yossi Kuperwasser, former head of the research department of Israeli military intelligence, as saying it was “very difficult to believe” that anyone survived the airstrike. But it could take days or weeks before Israel has enough information to say for sure what happened to Deif. In March, Israel’s army confirmed the killing of Deif’s deputy Marwan Issa only two weeks after the attack on him. Hamas, on the other hand, has never confirmed Issa’s death.

If Deif is indeed no longer alive, he would be the highest-ranking Hamas leader killed by Israel in the Gaza war that has been going on for more than nine months. On Sunday, the Israeli military confirmed that the airstrike killed the commander of Hamas’ Khan Yunis Brigade, Rafa Salama. He was considered a close associate of Deif, who was said to have been at his side at the time of the airstrike.

Meanwhile, according to Palestinian sources, around 15 people were killed in another airstrike on a school building in the refugee district of Nuseirat in the central part of the sealed-off Gaza Strip. Dozens of people were injured, Hamas announced. Israel’s military previously announced that it had attacked several Hamas fighters in the area of ​​a school belonging to the UN refugee agency UNRWA. The school served as a hiding place and base of operations for the terrorists to attack Israeli troops.

In the run-up to the attack, the army took numerous steps to minimize the risk to civilians, it said. The information provided by both sides could not be independently verified. In Nuseirat, Israel’s army recently said it had attacked several terrorists holed up in a school building from the air. Shortly before, 16 people were killed in an attack on a former UNRWA school, which had been used as a refugee shelter since the outbreak of the Gaza war, according to Hamas.

Israel: Hamas uses schools and civilians as human shield

The Israeli army once again pointed out that the terrorist organization systematically violates international law by using civilian institutions such as schools and the population as human shields for terrorist attacks against the State of Israel. The war was triggered by the massacre with more than 1,200 deaths that terrorists from Hamas and other groups carried out in Israel on October 7, 2023.

A Hamas representative in Beirut denied on Sunday that its military chief had been killed in Gaza. Deif is often called the “Phantom.” The 58-year-old is said to have survived at least seven Israeli attacks. Israel will therefore be particularly careful to determine whether he was killed this time, Kuperwasser told the Wall Street Journal. A photo of his body would be more informative than intelligence information, he said.

Israel’s army chief: We found him

Until about half a year ago, it was assumed in Israel that Deif had lost several limbs and had a number of physical disabilities. Until finally, pictures emerged showing Deif with both arms and both legs. Deif is considered one of Israel’s most wanted terrorists. He is the deputy of the head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Jihia al-Sinwar. Israel’s goal is to capture or kill her.

“Mohammed Deif was afraid of dying, so he hid in a way that even compromised his ability to command,” Halevi said, adding: “He hid and sacrificed with him his people and civilians who were in the area.” Israel’s army chief is certain: “We have found him, we will find the next ones too.”

According to Palestinian sources, at least 90 people were killed in the airstrike. At least 300 others were injured in the humanitarian zone of Al-Mawasi, the Hamas-controlled health authority said. This information could not be independently verified. According to an Israeli army representative, the target of the airstrike was a fenced-off, guarded Hamas base located in the humanitarian zone declared by Israel west of Khan Yunis.

Hamas: Negotiations not broken off

A representative of Hamas’ political wing denied reports that indirect negotiations with Israel on a ceasefire and the release of hostages were being broken off. It was not true that Hamas had made such a decision after the Israeli air strike, he said. According to Israeli media reports, the head of Israel’s foreign intelligence service Mossad, Daniel Barnea, plans to travel to the Qatari capital Doha in the coming days for another round of hostage talks.

The indirect negotiations, which have been going on for months and are being mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the USA, are about exchanging the remaining hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, as well as a ceasefire and the delivery of humanitarian aid. The indirect talks are progressing slowly. Israel has so far rejected Hamas’s demand for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.