Dozens of dead reported in strike in Gaza camp – DW – 13.07.2024

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that an attack in southern Gaza that reportedly killed dozens of Palestinians was aimed at Mohammed Deif, the man believed to have planned Hamas’s October 7 attacks in southern Israel.

Israel has long been trying to eliminate Deif. He is said to have escaped several assassination attempts in the past.

Deif is considered, among other things, to be responsible for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide attacks.

He is also responsible for expanding the tunnel network used by Hamas and building the group’s bomb-making skills.

The official said it was still unclear whether Deif died in the attack.

The Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip said on Saturday that at least 71 people were killed and about 289 others injured in an Israeli attack on a refugee camp in Khan Younis in the south of the Palestinian enclave.

The ministry updated the previously reported death toll to 20 after a “horrific (Israeli) massacre” in Mawasi camp.

Israel’s army radio station said on Saturday that the attack was aimed at Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, but it was unclear whether he was killed.

A senior Hamas official, Abu Zuhri, told Reuters the Israeli claim was nonsense and said all the dead were civilians.

The attack came as the Israeli military continues its campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The attack is in retaliation for the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel that killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Hamas and other Palestinian groups also took 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in Gaza. According to the Israeli military, 42 of the hostages still remaining in Gaza have died.

Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by the US, Germany, the EU and others.

tj/wd (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)