Did Israel just kill Hamas’ second in command?

Hamas’ military commander, Muhammad Deif, may be dead. Israeli officials said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a precision strike into the Khan Younis region of southern Gaza. Deif allegedly met with Rafa’a Salameh, the commander of Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade and a close friend of Deif, in the area of the strike.

Hamas said the IDF strike on Saturday, July 13, killed 90 people in the al-Mawasi camp. The IDF said the area was a safe zone for civilians. However, Hamas is known to operate within civilian zones, which the IDF will strike if the target is valuable enough.

Satellite imagery showed the site before and after the strike. The compound where Deif and Salameh allegedly met was in the middle of an olive grove, but still very close to a refugee tent community.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhayhu justified the attack by saying Deif was responsible for Israeli deaths as Hamas’ second-in-command leader.

Deif is rarely seen in photos and videos or in public. Israeli intelligence services labeled him as one of the country’s most wanted decades ago. Israel said Deif was the mastermind behind the Oct. 7 attacks that began the conflict.

Intelligence reports also showed Deif led an effort to extend Hamas’ underground tunnel network and was responsible for planning dozens of suicide bombings in the 1990s.

Before the July 13 attack, Israeli forces attempted to kill Deif on at least seven other occasions. Those attacks wounded Deif enough that he needed to seek medical attention outside of the tunnel network. According to a report from The New York Times, the IDF reportedly waited until he emerged to strike him again.

The IDF confirmed it killed Salameh in the strike, but it could not yet confirm it killed Deif for certain. Hamas denied that Deif died in the attack.