Israel’s intelligence agencies estimate with high probability that Mohammed Deif, the supreme commander of Hamas’s military wing, was killed on July 13 by an Israeli Air Force bombing in the Khan Younis area. Rafa’a Salama, one of his deputies and the military wing commander in Khan Younis, was killed in the strike, according to the Israeli military.
The Hamas leadership in Qatar quickly denied the report. Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy of Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, appeared on Al Jazeera and boasted that Deif was still alive.
He sent a message to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, saying, “Mohammed Deif heard your statements, and he mocks you.”
Unofficial Hamas sources confirmed Salama’s death but refused to comment on Deif’s fate.
The Israeli Security Agency is confident that Deif was eliminated and is now seeking more evidence to confirm it. Israel has reliable information that Deif was with Salama in the compound hit on July 13. Given the magnitude of the explosion, if Salama was killed, Deif likely was as well.
Hamas has placed a close guard on the hospitals receiving the bodies and wounded from the bombing, raising questions about the fate of Deif’s bodyguards.
Hamas also ordered that the funeral homes handling the casualties from the bombing remain closed to avoid giving Israel any information.
Additionally, Hamas has refrained from firing rockets from its bases in southern Lebanon at Israel, possibly to avoid implying acknowledgment of Deif’s assassination.
Hamas websites and Palestinian social networks are downplaying the assassination coverage, framing it as a malicious attack by Israel and yet another Israeli “massacre” of innocent civilians.
This is not the first time Hamas has covered up an assassination. It still conceals the killing of Marwan Issa, the chief of staff of Hamas’s military wing, who was killed by an IAF strike in March in the Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
In short, why is Hamas hiding the deaths of Deif and Salama? There are several possible reasons.
1. To prevent damage to Hamas morale: Deif was a significant leader of Hamas’s military wing. Admitting his death could demoralize fighters and diminish their motivation to keep fighting.
2. The battle for perception: Hamas portrays the “Al-Aqsa Flood” attack, its name for the Oct. 7 massacre, as a great victory conceived and planned by Deif. Admitting his elimination would be seen as a military failure of their most senior commander, who had evaded Israel for 30 years.
3. To confuse Israeli intelligence: Denying Deif’s death may be an attempt to confuse Israeli intelligence and cast doubt on its sources.
4. Hostage negotiations: Hamas may want to avoid appearing weak in the ongoing ceasefire, and thus be hoping to let the issue fade from media attention.
Ultimately, the truth will emerge.
While Hamas attempts to buy time, Israel is gathering evidence of Deif’s death, which it is potentially planning to release in an effort to expose Hamas’s deceit and damage its credibility.
Originally published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.