On Saturday, July 13, in a daring airstrike in the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, the Israel Defense Forces targeted Mohammed Deif, Hamas’s chief military strategist and the head of its armed forces, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigade, along with Hamas's Khan Yunis Brigade commander, Rafa’a Salama. Hamas formally confirmed Salama’s death but said nothing about Deif’s fate. One Hamas official claimed that Deif survived. However, the response from Hamas militants on the ground suggests otherwise, and Israeli intelligence agencies reportedly assess with high probability that the strike either killed or severely injured Deif. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew indicated that there are signs Deif was indeed killed.
When any nation, especially Israel, considers carrying out a targeted strike against individuals involved in terrorism, referred to as "centers of knowledge," three operational intelligence conditions must be met: high-quality real-time intelligence, a window of opportunity, and an assessment that the overall achievement of the killing outweighs any potential diplomatic and legal implications from potential civilian casualties. During the current war, the fourth part of the equation for Israel also includes analyzing whether the terrorist is hiding among Israeli hostages. In this case, Israeli decision-makers believed all these conditions were met and thus launched the strike after a period of close surveillance.
Palestinian sources claim the attack killed over 100 people and injured about........