Israel: Hamas commander killed in attack in southern Gaza Strip, fate of military chief unclear

CNN — (CNN) — Israel said a Hamas commander was killed in Saturday’s attack on southern Gaza, but the fate of the main target, Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, remains uncertain.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Sunday that Rafe Salama, the head of the Khan Younis Brigade and Deif’s deputy, was “eliminated” in the attack.

According to the statement, Salama was “one of Deif’s closest confidants” and “one of the masterminds” of the October 7 Hamas attack.

It is still unclear whether Deif himself died in Saturday’s attack. The Israeli military is currently investigating whether he was killed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also admitted that it was uncertain whether he had died.

The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 90 Palestinians were killed and 300 others injured in the attack in Al-Mawasi, a designated humanitarian zone.

Scott Anderson of the UN described what he saw in a nearby hospital after the attacks as “the most horrific scenes I have seen in my nine months in Gaza.”

An elusive and powerful figure, Deif is considered one of the architects behind the October 7 attacks and has led the armed wing of the Palestinian militant group for more than two decades.

If his death is confirmed, Deif would be the highest-profile Hamas leader killed since the Gaza war began nine months ago. Israel has sought to dismantle Hamas since the October 7 attacks, but with ongoing fighting and senior Hamas figures at large, that goal seems far from being achieved.

Israeli intelligence said it had killed a total of 25 Hamas activists involved in the October 7 attacks last week.

Ronen Bar, head of Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency, announced this figure during a meeting with commanders of the Southern Command and the 162nd Division of the Israel Defense Forces in Rafah on Saturday. Bar praised the results of the Shin Bet’s “increased activities” in Gaza.

Meanwhile, another Israeli airstrike on Sunday on a UN agency school in a camp for displaced people in central Gaza killed at least 15 people and injured more than 100, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and officials at a nearby hospital.

A video from the scene in Al-Nuseirat camp shows bodies and injured people – some bleeding and covered in rubble – being rushed to ambulances.

An Israel Defense Forces statement on Sunday said the Israeli Air Force had attacked “a number of terrorists” operating near the school in Nuseirat.

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