By Said Amori
JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that an Israeli airstrike Saturday in the Al-Mawasi area of the Gaza Strip targeted the general commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades and his deputy.
“Al-Mawasi operation targeted Mohammed Deif and his deputy, Rafaa Salama, but so far there are no confirmations of their deaths,” Netanyahu said in a news conference about the leaders of the military wing of Hamas. “We will reach anyone responsible for the events of Oct. 7.”
He said Israel’s domestic security agency, Shin Bet, presented him with the operation in Al-Mawasi, which he approved.
Netanyahu denied accusations by domestic and international observers that he is seeking to obstruct a hostage swap deal and a cease-fire with Palestinian factions in Gaza, but said he is “determined to secure a good deal, according to the principles he has set.”
The attack in southern Gaza killed 90 Palestinians and injured 300, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The daily Israel Hayom claimed, without providing evidence, that the main goal of the airstrike was to eliminate Deif.
“It is estimated that there is a high likelihood that Deif was injured in the attack, but military officials are awaiting the outcome,” it added.
Israeli Army Radio also claimed that the attack targeted an "important figure" in Hamas.
But the Palestinian resistance group said in a statement that Israeli media claims about the attack on the area in western Khan Younis in southern Gaza are "unfounded."
It added that Israeli media’s allegations “come to cover up the scale of the horrific massacre the occupation has committed.”
Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
More than 38,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 88,000 injured, according to local health authorities.
Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala