Israeli Airstrike Reportedly Kills Hamas Military Leader Mohammed Deif, His Wife And Son
Update 21 August:
Palestinian sources report that rescue services have recovered the body of Muhammad Deif’s daughter from the wreckage of Deif’s house.
She was originally thought to have died with her mother, but that report was revised to read only Deif’s son.
Now it seems both children suffered from the misfortune of having an unrepentant terrorist for a father.
Original Story:
An Israeli airstrike yesterday in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City targeted Hamas’ military leader Mohammed Deif but it is not certain if it achieved its objective as Israel responded to terrorist rockets fired from the strip.
The Israeli Defense Forces never specify where they carried out retaliatory attacks during a war situation due to security considerations but Hamas spokesman Mousa Abu Marzouk said today the airstrikes also killed “innocent Palestinian civilians.”
Palestinian news agency, Ma’an, reported that the home of the al-Dalou family in Gaza was hit by five missiles and three people were killed including Deif’s wife and daughter Later reports corrected that to his son.
Various Palestinian terrorist factions were quick to threaten the Jewish State with retaliation even though it’s quite clear that they themselves broke the recent ceasefire when they sent three grad rockets over Be’er Sheva in the south of Israel.
The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades said that “Israel, in this treacherous action, opened the gates of hell upon itself and it will pay a heavy price.”
According to reports, like the one in the Sydney Morning Herald, the Israeli’s attacked control and command sites near Beit Lahiya, in the Al-Zaytun neighborhood in Gaza City and in the Maghazi refugee camp.
Artillery fire was also reported in the north of the Gaza Strip as well as in Rafah.
The BBC reported today that an official in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government said: “In response to the breach in the ceasefire by Hamas, the prime minister and defense minister have ordered the IDF to hit terror targets in Gaza.”
Mohammed Deif lost both his legs in a previous Israeli airstrike but was still able to lead Hamas’ military division in its murderous goals against Israel despite the obvious risk to him, his family, and even his neighbors.
For the Israeli side the death of Deif, if confirmed, would be another step in the slow dismantling of Hamas.The hope is that it will be be replaced soon by a more responsible and reasonable leadership that actually cares about the well-being of the very people it purports to represent.
