Israel said it had targeted Hamas’ secret military commander in a massive attack in the densely populated southern Gaza Strip that killed at least 90 people, including children, according to local health officials.
Hamas immediately denied the claim that Mohammed Deif was in the area.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters on Saturday that there was “still no absolute certainty” that Deif and a second Hamas commander, Rafa Salama, were killed.
The attack took place in an area that the military had declared safe for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
Deif and Yahya Sinwar, the highest-ranking Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, are considered in Israel to be primarily responsible for the October 7 attack that killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel and sparked the war between Israel and Hamas.
Deif has not been seen in public for years, was at the top of Israel’s most wanted list for a long time, and is believed to have escaped several Israeli assassination attempts.
On October 7, Hamas released a rare voice recording of Deif announcing Operation Al Aqsa Flood.
The attack came at a sensitive time in the ceasefire efforts.
Deif’s death would be a great victory for Israel and a painful psychological blow for Hamas.
This could also be an opportunity for Netanyahu.
On Saturday, the prime minister reiterated that Israel would not end the war until Hamas’ military capabilities were destroyed, and Deif’s death would be a significant step in that direction.
All Hamas leaders have been sentenced to death and “we will get them all,” Netanyahu said.
He added that there were no hostages nearby at the time of the attack.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called on the military to increase “operational readiness on all fronts.”
However, Deif’s murder also poses the risk that Hamas will harden its position in the talks.
He lived underground for more than two decades and is believed to be paralyzed.
One of the few known images of him is a 30-year-old ID photo published by Israel.
Even in Gaza, only a handful of people would recognize him.
In a statement, Hamas denied that Deif had been in the area.
“These false allegations are merely intended to cover up the extent of the gruesome massacre,” it said.
The Gaza Strip’s Health Ministry reported 90 deaths and said at least 300 others were injured in the attack, one of the deadliest of the war.
Associated Press journalists counted more than 40 bodies in the overcrowded Nasser Hospital nearby.
“Numerous victims still lie under the rubble and on the streets, and ambulances and civil protection teams are unable to reach them,” the Health Ministry said.
According to witnesses, the attack landed in Muwasi, the Israeli-designated security zone that stretches from northern Rafah to Khan Younis.
Palestinians have fled to the coastal strip, where they mostly live in sweltering tents and have little access to basic services or supplies.
More than 80 percent of the 2.3 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip have been displaced from their homes.
Footage of the aftermath showed a huge crater, charred tents and burnt-out cars.
The victims were transported on the hoods and tailgates of cars, as well as on donkey carts and carpets.
At the hospital, a baby in a pink shirt with his face covered in sand cried while receiving first aid.
A little boy lay motionless at the other end of the bed, one shoe missing.
There was “the overwhelming stench of blood,” said Louise Wateridge, a spokeswoman for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, who visited the hospital and spoke to several patients.
The explosion threw a 2-year-old child into the air and the child’s mother is still missing, Wateridge said.
Another boy had his feet blown off, while an 8-year-old boy was killed.
“They told me to go there to be safe,” his grieving mother told her about the affected area.
Israel launched its campaign in the Gaza Strip following the October 7 Hamas attack, in which militants entered southern Israel and kidnapped about 250 people.
Since then, Israeli ground offensives and bombings in Gaza have killed more than 38,400 people and injured more than 88,000, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. The ministry makes no distinction between fighters and civilians in its count.