Muwasi, July 14: Hamas said Sunday that Gaza ceasefire talks continue and the group’s military commander is in good health, a day after the Israeli military targeted Mohammed Deif with a massive airstrike that local health officials said killed at least 90 people, including children.
Deif’s condition remained uncertain after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday night “there still isn’t absolute certainty” he was killed. Hamas representatives gave no evidence to back up their assertion about the health of a chief architect of the October 7 attack that sparked the war.
The Israeli military on Sunday announced that Rafa Salama, a Hamas commander it described as one of Deif’s closest associates, had been killed in Saturday’s strike. Salama commanded Hamas’ Khan Younis brigade. The statement gave no update on Deif, who has long topped Israel’s most-wanted list and has been in hiding for years.
Hamas rejected the idea that mediated ceasefire discussions had been suspended after the strike. Spokesperson Jihad Taha said “there is no doubt that the horrific massacres will impact any efforts in the negotiations” but added that “efforts and endeavours of the mediators remain ongoing.”
The killing of Deif would mark the highest profile assassination of any Hamas leader by Israel since the war began. It would be both a huge victory for Israel and a deep psychological blow for the militant group. Netanyahu said all of Hamas’ leaders are “marked for death” and asserted that killing them would move Hamas closer to accepting a ceasefire deal.
Hamas political officials insisted that communication channels remained functional between the leadership inside and outside Gaza after the strike in the territory’s south.
On Sunday, an Israeli strike in Nuseirat in central Gaza killed at least 13 people at the gate of a school, at Al-Awda hospital. Israel’s military in a statement said it struck “terrorists” operating in the area of a school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. (AP)
