Israel is still not sure if Mohammed Deif, the military head of the Palestinian Islamist movement "Hamas" in the Gaza Strip, was actually killed in an airstrike, reported DPA, quoted by BTA.
"There is still no absolute security," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a press conference in Tel Aviv.
Earlier, the army said it was still investigating whether Daif and Rafa Salama, commander of the "Khan Younis" brigade, were killed in an air strike west of the town of Khan Younis.
Hours earlier, the Israeli military bombed a site in the humanitarian zone between Khan Younis and al-Mawasi, which Israel claims served as a base for "Hamas".
According to the data of the controlled by "Hamas" health authorities in the Gaza Strip, 90 people died and 300 were injured in the attack.
A senior member of the group stated on "Al Jazeera" television that Deif was not killed in the attack.
The military leader of "Hamas" Mohammed Deif, one of the masterminds of the attack on the Palestinian movement, called by Israel "their 9/11" (the attack on Israeli territory on October 7 last year - note ed.), is an elusive figure, he rarely spoke and never appeared in public, having survived at least seven Israeli attempts against him, BTA reported.
In the months since the start of the Israeli retaliatory offensive that followed the "Hamas" invasion of southern Israel, Deif is believed to be the man directing military operations from the tunnels and dead ends of the Gaza Strip, along with other senior associates.
Climbed the steps of the hierarchy of "Hamas" for thirty years, Dave developed the group's network of tunnels and its explosives-making technology. He topped Israel's most wanted list for decades, being held personally responsible for the deaths of dozens of Israelis caused by Palestinian suicide bombings.
He is part of the three-member Hamas military council that planned the attacks on October 7, in which, according to Israeli figures, about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 hostages were taken. It was the bloodiest attack against the Israeli state in Its 75-year history.
After the attack, the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to kill the three: Yahya Sinwar, the leader of "Hamas" in the Gaza Strip, Deif, the head of the military wing, and Marwan Issa, his deputy, whose death was announced by Israel in March.
In a video released when "Hamas" fired thousands of rockets on October 7, Deif called the operation the "Al-Aqsa Deluge," signaling that the attack was in retaliation for Israeli operations at the "Al-Aqsa" mosque. in Jerusalem. According to a source close to Hamas, Daif began planning the attack (on October 7) in May 2021, after the operation in one of the three holy sites for Muslims, which angered the Arab and Muslim world.
58-year-old Dave rarely speaks and never appears in public. Close to "Hamas" a source informed that the decision to prepare an attack on October 7 was taken jointly by Daif, head of the military wing of "Hamas" - The brigades "Izzedin al-Qassam", and Sinuar, but it is clear that the strategist was Deif.
"There were two brains, but one strategist," said the source, adding that only a handful of leaders in "Hamas" knew about the operation. An Israeli security source said that Deif was directly involved in the planning and execution of the attack.
Born as Mohammad Masri in 1965 in the refugee camp in the town of Khan Younis, established after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the military leader was known as Mohammed Deif since joining "Hamas" during the First Intifada (the Palestinian uprising that began in 1987) He was detained by the Israeli authorities in 1989 and spent about 16 months in detention, informed a source from "Hamas".
Deif has a science degree from the Islamic University of Gaza, where he studied physics, chemistry and biology. At the higher educational institution, he led a theater troupe and acted on stage in comedies.
Sources from "Hamas" they say that Deif lost one of his eyes and suffered serious injuries to one of his legs in one of the Israeli attempts to kill him. His ability to survive while leading the military wing of "Hamas" has earned him the status of a national hero in the eyes of many Palestinians.
His wife, seven-month-old son and three-year-old daughter were killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2014.