Israeli occupation army spokesman Avichay Adraee said that there is increasing evidence of the success of the assassination of Al-Qassam Brigades commander, Mohammad Al-Deif, noting that the movement is deliberately hiding Al-Deif’s fate to avoid affecting the morale of its members.
When asked about the source of these indicators and confirmations, he told Sky News Arabia yesterday: “I say this clearly, because Israel based this complex and qualitative operation on accurate intelligence information.”
“When Israel dropped this amount of ammunition, missiles and bombs on the area where we confirmed the presence of the commander of the Khan Yunis Brigade in Hamas, Rafa’a Salama, along with Mohammad Al-Deif, the commander of the military wing of Hamas, we were 100 per cent certain that Rafa’a Salama was killed in this raid.”
“Therefore, indications are increasing that Mohammad Al-Deif was also killed, but we need further confirmation, and we will get them. It is clear that Hamas wants to hide Al-Deif’s fate because it does not want this to affect the morale of its members and leaders,” he noted.
Yesterday, Israel’s Channel 14 reported receiving confirmation that the attempt to assassinate Al-Deif had succeeded, indicating that this would be officially announced soon.
At least 90 Palestinians were killed and many more were injured in the Israeli strikes that claim to have targeted Al-Deif and Salama on 13 July.
READ: Israel army retracts claim it killed Al-Qassam commander Deif in Mawasi massacre