Palestinians gather near damage caused by an Israeli strike at a tent camp in Al-Mawasi area.
(CNN) — Israel says it targeted Hamas’ military chief and an alleged mastermind of the October 7 attacks in an airstrike in southern Gaza which local authorities said killed at least 71 Palestinians.
Mohammed Deif – the leader of Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing – was targeted Saturday in Al-Mawasi, a displacement camp west of the city of Khan Younis, an Israeli security official told CNN.
The Israeli military said it in the process of verifying whether Deif was killed in the strike, who was targeted alongside the head of the Khan Younis brigade, Rafe Salama.
The strike left scenes of devastation in the area, where the Gaza Health Ministry reported at least 71 people killed and nearly 300 people injured.
The strikes hit an area where displaced people were sheltering, according to the ministry. Videos from the scene show locals and rescue teams trying to unearth several people still trapped.
Al-Mawasi has been designated by Israel as a safe zone for Palestinians fleeing the fighting raging in Gaza.
The Kuwait and Nasser Hospitals on the ground are now struggling to cope with the high numbers of dead and injured civilians coming in, the ministry said.
Al-Mawasi residents described the terrifying moment the strike hit.
“I was sitting in the bathroom, and before I heard explosions from the strike, the bathroom flew off,” a young boy called Hammoud told a CNN stringer on the ground. “Then, the whole area became filled with smoke, and then the shells began to fall.”
Hammoud’s young brother was killed in the strike whilst his sister is currently in hospital receiving treatment for her injuries, his family told CNN.
Hamas denied Israeli claims it had targeted Deif and Salama, calling the killings a “horrific massacre.”
“The occupation’s claims of targeting leaders are false claims, and this is not the first time the occupation has claimed to target Palestinian leaders, only for its lies to be exposed later,” a statement read.
Palestinians pictured in the aftermath of the strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
A shadowy figure
Israeli security and intelligence first received intelligence about a potential opportunity to strike Hamas’s top military commander in recent days, but a clear window of opportunity to strike Deif only crystallized in the last 24 hours, an Israeli official said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Israeli military chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and top Shin Bet officials held multiple discussions overnight to assess the viability of a strike before the green light was given, the official said.
Palestinians gather near damage, following what Palestinians say was an Israeli strike at a tent camp in Al-Mawasi area.
A key focus of the discussions was assessing Israeli intelligence indicating that there were no hostages in the area, the official added, as well as the effect that carrying out such a significant strike might have on ongoing ceasefire and hostage deal negotiations.
Little is known about Deif. Thought to have been born in the 1960s, Deif is a bomb maker was behind a wave of four suicide attacks in 1996 that killed 65 people in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and other outrages intended to derail the peace process.
His full name is Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, but he became known as El Deif (the Guest), because, for decades, he stayed in different houses every night to avoid being tracked, and killed, by Israel.
Deif has been the target of Israeli assassination attempts before. A 2014 Israel strike killed his wife, seven-month-old son and three-year-old daughter.
In May, the International Criminal Court said it was seeking arrest warrants for Deif and other senior Hamas figures, saying they had “reasonable grounds” to believe they bore responsibility for the October 7 attacks, which saw around 1,200 Israelis killed.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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