Muhammad Deif, Hamas Military Commander in Gaza, Is Dead

Muhammad Deif, the shadowy leader of Hamas’s military wing in Gaza and one of the chief architects of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that ignited a war, was confirmed by Hamas on Thursday to be dead. He was in his late 50s.

Mr. Deif, whose real name was Muhammad al-Masri, was one of the most senior Hamas leaders inside Gaza, and he was one of Israel’s most-wanted militants for decades. He survived a number of Israeli assassination attempts before the one that killed him and was lionized by some Palestinians as a symbol of Hamas’s resilience — albeit an enigmatic one.

While Israel announced in August that he had been killed, Abu Obeida, the spokesman of Hamas’s military wing, only acknowledged his death on Thursday in a recorded video statement. Both Israel and the United States considered him a terrorist with their citizens’ blood on his hands.

Mr. Deif was killed on July 13, Israel said, when its forces bombed a compound on the outskirts of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to the Israeli military — making him one of the most senior Hamas commanders slain inside Gaza in the war.

Mr. Obeida did not say when or where Mr. Deif was killed.

The strike that killed Mr. Deif also killed at least 90 Palestinians on the ground, the Gaza health ministry said, hitting within the Al-Mawasi area of southern Gaza, a part of a humanitarian zone designated by Israel. The zone was a large expanse filled with hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians, many living in makeshift shelters, according to the United Nations. Israel said that Hamas was operating from the targeted compound within the zone.

Mr. Deif was “the beating heart” of Hamas’s military wing and one of its most important military strategists, said Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli intelligence officer specializing in Palestinian affairs.