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Israel Confirms Death of Hamas Terror Chief Mohammed Deif, Oct. 7 Mastermind
Picture said to show leader of Hamas’ military wing, known as Al-Qassam Brigades, Mohammed Deif in a location given as Gaza Strip in this handout picture released on Jan. 7, 2024. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
The head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza last month, the Israeli military said on Thursday, a day after the Palestinian terrorist group’s political leader was assassinated in Tehran.
Deif is believed to have been one of the masterminds of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel which triggered the Gaza war.
“The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] announces that on July 13th, 2024, IDF fighter jets struck in the area of Khan Yunis, and following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike,” the military said.
Hamas neither confirmed nor denied the killing of Deif, but one official, Ezzat Rashaq, said any word on deaths of its leaders was its responsibility alone.
“Unless either of them [the Hamas political and military leadership] announces it, no news published in the media or by any other parties can be confirmed,” Rashaq said.
The Israeli announcement came as crowds gathered in the Iranian capital for the funeral procession of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Iran and Hamas have blamed Haniyeh’s killing on Israel, which has neither denied nor confirmed a role in the assassination. It did however confirm it killed a senior commander of the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist organization in Beirut on Tuesday.
Hezbollah and Hamas are backed by Iran. The latest killings have raised concern of a further escalation in hostilities in the Middle East, with threats of revenge against Israel, which has said it does not seek regional war but that it would respond forcefully to any attack.
STRING OF DEATHS
On Thursday, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Haniyeh’s death would not weaken the group’s fighters in Gaza.
“Despite the crime, Hamas remains strong and the confrontation in Gaza is continuing,” he said.
But his death was the latest in a series that has targeted the group’s leaders. Haniyeh’s deputy, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed in a drone strike in Beirut in January. In March, Israel said it had killed Marwan Issa, Deif’s deputy.
The United States confirmed Issa’s death in an Israeli operation. Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied his death.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Deif’s death was a milestone in Israel‘s goal of destroying Hamas’ military wing, known as Al-Qassam Brigades.
“Hamas is disintegrating,” Gallant said on X. “Hamas terrorists may either surrender or they will be eliminated.”
One of Hamas’ most dominant figures, Deif rose through the group’s ranks over 30 years, developing its network of tunnels and its bomb-making expertise.
He has topped Israel‘s most wanted list for decades, held personally responsible for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings. Scores of Palestinians were killed in the airstrike that killed him, medics in Gaza say.
The other mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack, Yahya Sinwar, is still believed to be directing military operations, possibly from bunkers beneath Gaza, while playing a leading role in indirect negotiations with Israel for a prisoner swap deal.
But now on the 300th day of warfare in Gaza, hopes for a hostage deal and ceasefire have dimmed.
The war erupted when Palestinian terrorists led by Hamas stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking around 250 hostages back to Gaza.
Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’ military and governing capabilities in Gaza. According to Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza, more than 39,400 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive. Experts have cast doubt on the reliability of casualty figures coming out of Gaza, in part because they do not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths.
Israel has lost 329 soldiers in Gaza and says around a third of the Palestinian dead are terrorists.
The post Israel Confirms Death of Hamas Terror Chief Mohammed Deif, Oct. 7 Mastermind first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.