“Although the 98th Division manoeuvred for four months in Khan Yunis, it is unknown whether the troops had approached Deif or reached the place where he was staying.”

Israeli security sources have reportedly said there is no intelligence information yet to confirm the success of the assassination attempt on senior Al-Qassam Brigades commander Muhammad Al-Deif in an air strike that killed at least 90 people in Gaza’s Al-Mawasi “safe zone” on Saturday.

Massacre in Gaza ‘Safe Zone’ – Israel Bombs Khan Yunis Camp, Kills, Wounds over 350

Citing the Israeli Army Radio, the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reported that unnamed Israeli security sources said “So far, no new intelligence information has been received that would allow to reinforce or prove the veracity of Deif’s assassination.”

The sources added, “We are still waiting for more information that will clarify the results of the attack.”

‘Double Assassination’ Claims

The radio station claimed that Deif had been hiding in the southern Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war, adding that most of the time he was in underground tunnels, especially under the Khan Yunis refugee camp.

“Although the 98th Division manoeuvred for four months in Khan Yunis, it is unknown whether the troops had approached Deif or reached the place where he was staying,” the radio station reported, according to MEMO.

“Israeli estimates indicate that only recently, Deif allowed himself to leave the tunnels, due to the advanced state of negotiations on a prisoner swap deal and that he arrived at the Salameh family compound located above the ground in Al-Mawasi,” the radio station added.

Rafa’a Salameh, the commander of the Khan Yunis Brigade, had arrived at the location in Al-Mawasi only recently, it explained, and that it was not the family’s permanent residence.

“Therefore, the intelligence and operational opportunity in this double assassination is considered extraordinary – two fat birds with one stone.”

‘Deif is Alive’ – Hamas Denies Israeli Claims about Real Reason behind Khan Yunis Massacre

‘Unfounded’ – Hamas

On Saturday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed: “The Al-Mawasi operation targeted Mohammed Deif and his deputy, Rafa’a Salameh, but so far there are no confirmations of their deaths.”

Hamas, however, rejected the Israeli claims saying it was “unfounded.”

In a statement, the movement said  the Israeli media’s allegations “come to cover up the scale of the horrific massacre the (Israeli) occupation has committed.”

The Jerusalem Post on Monday also reported that “There is still no official confirmation or statement concerning the success of the targeted strike” of Deif.

At the same time, The Times of Israel reported that while Israeli officials have said there was “a high likelihood” he was killed, “there has been no confirmation as of yet.”

Hamas said the Mawasi Khan Yunis massacre, “which targeted an area crowded with more than 80,000 displaced people, is a clear confirmation by the Zionist government of its continuation of the genocide against our Palestinian people through the repeated and systematic targeting of unarmed civilians.”

Over 38,000 Killed

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 38,584 Palestinians have been killed, and 88,881 wounded. Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.

(MEMO, PC)