https://nationalpost.com/news/world/israel-says-hamas-commander-likely-killed-despite-denial
Israeli security officials said Sunday they were pretty confident their targeted attack against Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif was successful despite the terror group’s denial.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they’d been following Deif’s movements for a couple of days, pinpointed his location and carried out an attack on Saturday that would have been hard to survive. Rafa Salama, a Hamas brigade commander, was killed in the attack, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement, which didn’t refer to Deif.
If Deif did escape, it wouldn’t be the first time. The supreme commander of Hamas’s Qassam Brigades, he has been such a shadowy figure that the only known picture of him dates back to when he was a teenager. He’s been on the run for two decades and has never appeared in public.
The assessment by Israeli security analysts is that his death — if confirmed — will be a major blow against Hamas and will help force the group to close the deal currently being negotiated for a ceasefire to return Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and bring aid to the Gaza Strip.
To many outsiders, such a claim seems counter-intuitive: a deadly attack during negotiations isn’t likely to inspire flexibility. But Israeli officials are persuaded that the only way to get Hamas to close a ceasefire deal is by cornering it and eliminating its commanders.
“In recent weeks, we have identified clear cracks in Hamas under the power of the blows we are raining on them. We see changes. We see weakness,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a news conference.
