Israel delayed strike on Hamas commander’s compound hoping for more senior leader: Report

Israeli forces waited weeks to target Rafa Salameh, the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, at his family’s compound in southern Gaza , hoping that a more senior Hamas leader, Mohammed Deif, Hamas’s top military commander, would arrive.

The patience of the Israelis appeared to pay off for them, who believe Deif traveled to Salameh’s compound this weekend, according to the New York Times. Israeli forces subsequently carried out airstrikes on it, even though it was inside a designated humanitarian zone.

Israel's military said that the strike had killed the lieutenant, Rafa Salameh, but could not confirm that Deif was killed. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said over the weekend that Israel did not yet have “absolute clarity” as to whether Deif had been killed.

“His hands are steeped in the blood of many Israelis,” the prime minister added. “At the beginning of the campaign, I laid down a rule: The Hamas murderers are dead men, from the first to the last.”

Hamas officials said about 90 people were killed in the strike, though they do not specify between civilian and combatant casualties.

Israeli forces detected Salameh’s presence at the compound several weeks ago but decided to wait on carrying out a strike given their belief that Deif, whom they believe spends more time above ground and outside the tunnel network due to health problems, would eventually visit his subordinate, the New York Times reported.

Deif appeared at the compound on Friday and shortly thereafter, Netanyahu signed off on the strike.

He is believed to have survived multiple previous Israeli assassination attempts, though he is also believed to be disabled from those attempts.

Deif is viewed as one of the masterminds of Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack that left roughly 1,200 people dead and another 250 taken hostage.

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“Righteous fighters, this is your day to bury this criminal enemy,” he said in a prerecorded speech, which was broadcast on Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV on Oct. 7 as the attack occurred. “Its time has finished. Kill them wherever you find them,” he added. “Remove this filth from your land and your sacred places. Fight and the angels fight with you.”

Deif has led Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, for more than two decades and Israel believes he is responsible, directly or indirectly, for untold numbers of Israeli deaths.