IDF watched and waited for Deif before attacking Salama’s villa

Israel monitored the now-murdered Rafa Salama for weeks and saw that he would arrive at a villa and compound owned by his family, but decided not to kill him, instead waiting in the hope that Mohammed Deif would eventually follow him there, according to a New York Times report. Although Salama’s death in the Israeli raid on the compound was confirmed by the military on Saturday, Deif’s condition remained unclear.

Salama began spending more and more time at the villa after Israeli forces took over several of his other properties in Khan Younis, both above and underground. Israeli security officials said he was in tunnels most of the time, but he emerged for air and spent time in his villa with other armed family members.

They said the military believed Deif, who had survived several assassination attempts and was in poor health, was more in need of coming out of the tunnels than other Hamas leaders. Among the intelligence the IDF relied on was a photograph showing Salama and Deif together in the villa’s garden.