The Muwasi area of Gaza, west of Khan Younis, had been reportedly designated a “safe zone” by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) where tens of thousands of Palestinians had taken refuge after being displaced from Rafah and other parts of Gaza by Israeli military operations. Today, however, the Israeli air force turned Muwasi into a killing zone with several air strikes which the Israeli military said were aimed at Hamas military commander Mohamed Deif and Khan Younis brigade commander Rafa’a Salameh.
Reports out of Gaza are putting the civilian toll at 71 dead and 289 wounded, numbers that could still go higher. “The Israeli occupation army conducted a big massacre by bombarding the tent camps of the displaced in Khan Younis,” the statement issued by the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said, Middle East Eye reported. “The horrifying massacre killed and wounded more than 100 people, including members of the Civil Emergency Service.”
Journalist Firas Abu Sharkh, who was reporting from the scene, told MEE that Israeli forces “directly targeted” civil defense and Ministry of Health teams working to recover the dead and wounded in Muwasi. This was also reported by the military correspondent from Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth, who said on X that the army had “continued to attack the compound where Deif was staying even after the initial attack to make sure that the rescue forces did not arrive to rescue the terrorists.”
The Times of Israel, citing Channel 12 reporter Yaron Avraham, reported that top Israeli officials considered the various dilemmas relating to carrying out an attempted assassination of Muhammad Deif in the hours before the strike was carried out this morning. Without citing sources, Avraham said the assessment was that though the action may cause immediate tactical harm to negotiations with Hamas for a hostage release, it would be strategically beneficial, not least because it makes clear to Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar that Israel can reach him too. The bottom line, said Avraham, was that “such an opportunity cannot be missed.”
Deif has been Israel’s most-wanted Hamas leader for two decades or more, said to be responsible for terrorist attacks going back to the 1990s. He has also reportedly already survived seven assassination attempts. His current condition remains unknown.