Reuters photo.
Cairo: Israel unleashed deadly strikes in a designated humanitarian in Gaza, killing at least 71 people on Saturday. Israel claimed that it was targeting Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, Reuters reported.
However, the Israeli military told reporters that it is yet to confirm that Deif was killed in the attack. It said that it was checking and verifying the results of the strike.
However, the Palestinian armed group Hamas informed that the Israeli statement that their military was targeting their leader was a false claim. The claim was an attempt to justify the deadliest attack by Israel in Gaza in weeks.
Those who witnessed the attack and lived to tell the tale said that their tents were torn apart by the force of the strike, and bodies, as well as torn-off body parts, got strewn on the ground.
One of them told Reuters that he couldn't even tell where he was or what was happening. A resident of Gaza City and currently displaced in the Al-Mawasi area, the person said that he left the tent and looked around to see raised-down tents, bodies and body parts everywhere. There were bodies of elderly women and children strewn everywhere.
Meanwhile, Israel further claimed that its strike also targeted Rafa Salama, the commander of Hamas' Khan Younis Brigade. The military described Salama and Dief as the two masterminds of the October 7 attack on southern Israel last year, which triggered Israel's severe offensive into Gaza that completed nine months and still goes on unhindered.
It is reported that Dief survived seven attempts of assassination by Israel.