While sources claimed that negotiations had stopped, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that it was still unclear whether Deif and another Hamas commander had been slain and vowed to keep going after the organization’s leadership. He also said that increasing military pressure on Hamas would increase the likelihood of a hostage agreement.
Netanyahu vowed to pursue Israel’s military objectives to the very end, saying during a press conference, “Either way, we will get to the whole of the Hamas leadership.”
A senior Hamas official said that the militant Islamist organization Hamas rejected Deif’s death. The attack was the bloodiest Israeli attack on Gaza in weeks, according to Hamas, which had earlier denied Israeli allegations that it had targeted group officials.
People who had taken refuge in the area reported that the impact of the attack had destroyed their tents and left bodies and body parts scattered across the ground.
Relocating to the Al-Mawasi region, Sheikh Youssef, a Gaza City resident, remarked, “I couldn’t even tell where I was or what was happening.”
“I left the tent and looked around, all the tents were knocked down, body parts, bodies everywhere, elderly women thrown on the floor, young children in pieces,”
The Israeli military described Deif and Rafa Salama as two of the masterminds of the October 7 attack on southern Israel that started the nine-month conflict in Gaza. The Israeli military said that the strike also targeted Salama, the leader of Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade.
Reporters were earlier informed by an Israeli military officer that the strike’s outcomes were still being confirmed.
Held accountable for the suicide bombing killings of several Israelis, Deif has escaped seven Israeli assassination attempts, the most recent of which occurred in 2021. For decades, he has been at the top of Israel’s most wanted list.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the strike resulted in at least 91 Palestinian deaths and 300 injuries, making it the highest toll in the conflict-torn region in weeks.
The Israeli army has regularly ordered Palestinians to evacuate from other localities and directed them to Al-Mawasi, a designated humanitarian area.
Ambulances could be seen rushing toward the scene in footage amid dust and smoke clouds. Women and children were among the displaced individuals running out in terror, some of them clutching personal items.
“Terrorists hid among civilians” was written on an Israeli military-published aerial photo of the spot, which was unable to immediately confirm.
“The location of the strike was an open area surrounded by trees, several buildings, and sheds,” the statement read.
According to the Israeli military official, Deif was being guarded by multiple militants at the operational base of Hamas, rather than a tent complex.
A ‘FULL OF PATIENTS’ HOSPITAL
Numerous casualties of the attack, including women and children, were sent to the adjacent Nasser Hospital, which according to hospital administrators was “no longer able to function” because of the severity of the Israeli offensive and a severe lack of medical supplies.
The hospital’s director, Atef al-Hout, stated that it was the only one still in operation in southern Gaza and that it was “full of patients, it’s full of wounded, we can’t find beds for people.”
According to his office, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was having extraordinary consultations because of “developments in Gaza”.
Two Egyptian security sources, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said that after three days of heated talks, the ceasefire talks in Doha and Cairo had come to an end. They said that “internal discord” was shown by the way Israeli mediators behaved
Prior to this, Hamas was waiting on mediators’ response to offers made to Israel.
During his Saturday night televised speech, U.S. President Joe Biden’s framework remained the basis for Netanyahu’s positions.
Israel informed the United States that it had struck key Hamas officials, according to a spokesman for the White House National Security Council. The statement continued, “The Biden administration is in contact with Israel officials to learn more about the reported civilian casualties.”
Protesters in Tel Aviv carried on their rally as the prime minister was speaking, chanting and holding signs that demanded the liberation of Israeli hostages in Gaza. Earlier in the day, thousands of demonstrators marched outside Jerusalem.
“It might be excellent or it might not be good. Participating in the hostage support march outside Jerusalem was Ayala Metzger, the daughter-in-law of an Israeli hostage, “I don’t know about Mohammed Deif, but I know that keeping the war is bad for all of us.”
She said, “We have to bring the hostages back.” “If Netanyahu killed Mohammed Deif then he has his picture of victory so bring them back now.”
HIT THE CALM AREA, ACCORDING TO WITNESSES
Separately on Saturday, Palestinian health and civil emergency officials said that at least 20 Palestinians had died in an Israeli attack on a prayer hall in a camp for displaced people in west Gaza City.
Israel disputes accusations made by critics that it is conducting genocide against the Palestinian people. Although the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take action in January to avoid acts of genocide, it characterizes its measures as self-defense to prevent another attack similar to the one on October 7.
Israeli counts indicate that in the cross-border raid into southern Israel on October 7, militants led by Hamas killed 1,200 people and captured over 250 prisoners.
More than 38,000 Palestinians have died as a result of Israel’s military activity in Gaza, according to Gaza’s medical authority.
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