Hamas' military commander, Mohammed Deif, was killed in the July 13 airstrike in the Khan Yunis area. This was announced by the Israeli army, BBC and Reuters reported, as quoted by News.bg.
At the time, the Israeli military said another Hamas commander, Rafaa Salemeh, had been killed, but there was no confirmation of Deif's death from either Israel or Hamas.
"On July 13, 2024, fighter jets of the Israel Defense Forces carried out strikes in the Khan Younis area, and after an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike,", the military informed.
The confirmation of Deif's death comes a day after the death of Ismail Haniya in Iran.
Hamas did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Israeli announcement, which comes as people gathered in Tehran for the funeral of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Deif is believed to have been one of the masterminds of the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that sparked the Gaza war.
One of Hamas's most dominant figures, Daif rose through the ranks of the group over 30 years, developing its network of tunnels and its bomb-making expertise.
The head of the "Ezzedine al-Qassam" Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, has been among Israel's most wanted for nearly three decades, and since 2015 has been on the US list of "international terrorists".