HAMAS terror boss Mohammed Deif has been assassinated in an airstrike, the Israeli army has revealed.
One-eyed Mohammed Deif, dubbed “The Guest”, was one of the terrorist architects behind the October 7 attacks that killed 1,200 people in Israel last year.
IDF fighter jets took out the terrorist mastermind in a “precise, targeted” strike on a compound in Gaza on July 13.
The army announced the strike at the time, but only revealed today that they were successful.
The IDF said today: “The IDF announces that on July 13th, 2024, IDF fighter jets struck in the area of Khan Yunis, and following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike.”
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari released footage online of the fierce strike, with an enormous explosion breaking out in a blitzed area of Khan Yunis.
“Mohammed Deif was the Commander of Hamas’ Military Wing, and second in command of the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip,” the army added.
The statement said: “Deif initiated, planned, and executed the October 7th Massacre, in which 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel and 251 hostages abducted into the Gaza Strip.”
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said this morning: “Muhammad Deif, the ‘Osama Bin Laden of Gaza,’ was eliminated on 13.07.24.
“This is a significant milestone in the process of dismantling Hamas as a military and governing authority in Gaza, and in the achievement of the goals of this war.
“The operation was conducted precisely and professionally by the IDF and ISA.
“This operation reflects the fact that Hamas is disintegrating, and that Hamas terrorists may either surrender or they will be eliminated.
“Israel’s defense establishment will pursue Hamas terrorists – both the planners and the perpetrators of the 07.10 massacre.
“We will not rest until this mission is accomplished.”
Deif, along with Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh – who was killed in Iran on Monday – was a top target for the Israeli forces.
Previously compared to Osama Bin Laden, he has dodged over a dozen assassination attempts and countless strikes from Israel over the years.
An air strike attempt to take him out in 2021 apparently confined him to life in a wheelchair after he lost both his legs, one arm and an eye.
He survives by hiding out in Gaza’s underground tunnel network — which he helped plan — or moving to new safe houses every night.
Born in a refugee camp, he changed his name to Deif — which means “The Guest” in Arabic — to reflect his constant moves from house to house.
Deif worked as commander of the ruthless al-Qassam brigades, Hamas’s military wing.
It comes just days after an Israeli strike took out another top Hamas leader – Ismail Haniyeh.
One of the founding members of the terror group, Haniyeh unflinchingly represented the bloodthirsty cult for decades, even past the death of his own children.
He was traced by Israeli spies as he attended the inauguration for the new Iranian president in Tehran on Monday.
Israel’s secretive Shin Bet intelligence arm discovered exactly which room of his accommodation Haniyeh was sleeping in, with scores of others also in the block.
A rocket was then launched from a drone into his room, detonating and killing him and his bodyguard.
