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Deif’s Elimination Would Be a Major Blow to Hamas
Illustrative. Smoke rises following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. Photo: Reuters/Amir Cohen
JNS.org – The elimination of Mohammad Deif, head of Hamas’s military wing, would represent a significant blow to both Hamas’s morale and operational capabilities.
Deif, whose death in an Israeli airstrike on Saturday has not yet been confirmed, was the mastermind behind three decades of jihadist terrorism against Israel. He was also a key catalyst in Hamas’s ongoing efforts to team up with Iran and mortally wound Israel through a war of jihadist attrition from Gaza, Judea and Samaria and Lebanon.
He played a crucial role in transforming Hamas from a guerilla force into a full-blown terror army within Gaza, complete with command and control, a major rocket arsenal and an unprecedented network of combat tunnels. A terror army that would go on to unleash the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
Israeli officials reported on Saturday that the Israel Defense Forces had carried out a targeted strike near Gaza’s Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, close to Khan Younis. The two targets were Deif, the commander of Hamas’s military wing, and Rafa Salama, the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade. Both were responsible for planning and carrying out Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, according to the officials.
The strike was a coordinated joint effort by the IDF Southern Command and the Israeli Air Force, with significant participation by IDF Military Intelligence and the Israel Security Agency. According to Israeli intelligence, most of the other casualties from the strike were also terrorists.
The targeted area was described as an open space surrounded by trees, several buildings and sheds, that functioned as an operational compound. At this time, there is no indication that any Israeli hostages were present in the vicinity of the strike.
The strategic significance of this operation cannot be overstated. Deif’s elimination will disrupt Hamas’s military hierarchy and operational planning, dealing a severe blow to its command structure. Over the years, Deif had become synonymous with Hamas’s military strategy. His expertise and leadership in guerilla warfare and mass-casualty terrorism, and his ability to adapt and transform Hamas’s military capabilities, made him an invaluable asset to the organization. Symbolically as well, he gained cult-like status among Palestinians, and his name was chanted by radical Islamists in Judea and Samaria and on the Temple Mount as well.
A military official noted that high-ranking Hamas officials deliberately chose Al-Mawasi for their operational activities, to avoid detection and complicate military action against them. The official stressed that Israel makes every effort to avoid harm to noncombatants, adding that Hamas’s human shielding is failing to protect its senior terrorists.
“We are attacking the most high-ranking Hamas commanders, who are masterminds of the Oct. 7 [attacks] and … conducted terror against Israel for years,” said the official.
By eliminating figures like Deif and Salama, Israel not only dismantles the leadership framework of Hamas, but also helps crush Hamas’s future hopes to rebuild an effective terror army, a key war goal.
The strike is also an indication of the quality of Israel’s intelligence regarding Gaza. The collaboration between the IDF and ISA, and the ability to locate and eliminate such high-profile targets is a testament to an increasingly tight intelligence grip on an area that was once Hamas’s comfortable home turf.
As such, the strike is a pivotal moment in Israel’s long-term war against the “ring of fire” with which Iran has attempted to surround the Jewish state. Hamas and its allies in Tehran and Beirut are bearing witness to Israel’s determination and ability to remove jihadist commanders, and to continuously degrade their hopes to force Israel into surrender.
The post Deif’s Elimination Would Be a Major Blow to Hamas first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Herzog Says Wellbeing of Israelis His Only Concern in Deal With Netanyahu’s ‘Extraordinary’ Pardon Request
Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks during a press conference with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics in Riga, Latvia, Aug. 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
i24 News – In an interview with Politico published on Saturday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog remained tight-lipped on whether he intended to grant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “extraordinary” pardon request, saying that his decision will be motivated by what’s best for Israel.
“There is a process which goes through the Justice Ministry and my legal adviser and so on. This is certainly an extraordinary request and above all when dealing with it I will consider what is the best interest of the Israeli people,” Herzog said. “The well-being of the Israeli people is my first, second and third priority.”
Asked specifically about President Donald Trump’s request, Herzog said “I respect President Trump’s friendship and his opinion,” adding, “Israel, naturally, is a sovereign country.”
Herzog addressed a wide range of topics in the interview, including the US-Israel ties and the shifts in public opinion on Israel.
“One has to remember that the fountains of America, of American life, are based on biblical values, just like ours. And therefore, I believe that the underlying fountain that we all drink from is the same,” he said. “However, I am following very closely the trends that I see in the American public eye and the attitude, especially of young people, on Israel.”
“It comes from TikTok,” he said of the torrent of hostility toward Israel that has engulf swathes of U.S. opinion since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, “from a very shallow discourse of the current situation, pictures or viewpoints, and doesn’t judge from the big picture, which is, is Israel a strategic ally? Yes. Is Israel contributing to American national interests, security interests? Absolutely yes. Is Israel a beacon of democracy in the Middle East? Absolutely yes.”
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Syria’s Sharaa Charges Israel ‘Exports Its Crises to Other Countries’
FILE PHOTO: Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa addresses the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Saturday escalated his messaging against Israel at the Doha forum.
“Israel is working to export its own crises to other countries and escape accountability for the massacres it committed in the Gaza Strip, justifying everything with security concerns,” he said.
“Meanwhile, Syria, since its liberation, has sent positive messages aimed at establishing the foundations of regional stability.
“Israel has responded to Syria with extreme violence, launching over 1,000 airstrikes and carrying out 400 incursions into its territory. The latest of these attacks was the massacre it perpetrated in the town of Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside, which claimed dozens of lives.
“We are working with influential countries worldwide to pressure Israel to withdraw from the territories it occupied after December 8, 2014, and all countries support this demand.
“Syria insists on Israel’s adherence to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement. The demand for a demilitarized zone raises many questions. Who will protect this zone if there is no Syrian army presence?
“Any agreement must guarantee Syria’s interests, as it is Syria that is subjected to Israeli attacks. So, who should be demanding a buffer zone and withdrawal?”
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Turkey’s Fidan: Gaza Governance Must Precede Hamas Disarmament in Ceasefire Deal
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends a press conference following a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, May 27, 2025. Photo: Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via REUTERS
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Reuters on Saturday that not advancing the US-backed Gaza ceasefire plan to its next stage would be a “huge failure” for the world and Washington, noting that President Donald Trump had personally led the push.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Doha Forum, Fidan said a credible Palestinian civil administration and a vetted, trained police force needed to be in place to allow Hamas to disarm, and that the group was prepared to hand over control of the enclave.
“First of all, we need to see that the Palestinian committee of technical people are taking over the administration of Gaza, then we need to see that the police force is being formed to police Gaza – again, by the Palestinians, not Hamas.”
NATO member Turkey has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s assault on Gaza. It played a key role in brokering the ceasefire deal, signing the agreement as a guarantor. It has repeatedly expressed its willingness to join efforts to monitor the accord’s implementation, a move Israel strongly opposes.
Talks to advance the next phase of President Trump’s plan to end the two-year conflict in Gaza are continuing.
The plan envisages an interim technocratic Palestinian administration in the enclave, overseen by an international “board of peace” and supported by a multinational security force. Negotiations over the composition and mandate of that force have proven particularly difficult.
Fidan said the Gaza police force would be backed by the international stabilisation force. He added that Washington was pressing Israel over Turkey’s bid to join the force, to which it has voiced readiness to deploy troops if needed.
FIDAN SAYS KURDISH SDF IN SYRIA NOT WILLING TO INTEGRATE
Asked about a landmark deal in March in which the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and Damascus agreed that the SDF would be integrated into Syria’s state structures, Fidan said signals from the SDF showed it had “no intention” of honouring the accord, and was instead seeking to sidestep it.
Ankara, which considers the SDF a terrorist organisation, has threatened military action if it does not comply, setting a deadline of the end of the year.
“I think they (SDF) should understand that the command and control should come from one place,” Fidan added. “There can be no two armies in any given country. So there can only be one army, one command structure … But in local administration, they can reach a different settlement and different understandings.”
Almost a year after the fall of president Bashar al-Assad, Fidan said some issues of minority rights were unresolved, insisting that Turkey’s backing of the new Syrian government was not a “blank cheque” to oppress any groups.
He said Damascus was taking steps toward national unity, but that Israeli “destabilisation policies” were the chief obstacle.
Israel has frequently struck southwestern Syria this year, citing threats from militant groups and the need to protect the Druze community near the frontier. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he expected Syria to establish a demilitarised buffer zone from Damascus to the border.
TURKEY: U.S. COULD REMOVE SANCTIONS ‘VERY SOON’
Fidan also said Washington’s initial 28-point plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war was just a “starting point,” and that it was now evolving in a new format. He said mediation by US officials was “on the right path.”
“I just hope that nobody leaves the table and the Americans are not frustrated, because sometimes the mediators can be frustrated if they don’t see enough encouragement from both sides.”
Asked about efforts to lift US sanctions imposed in 2020 over Ankara’s purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems, he said both sides were working on it, adding: “I believe we’ll soon find a way to remove that obstacle.”