GAZA CITY: Hamas confirmed on Thursday the death of its military chief Mohammed Deif, accused by Israel of being one of the masterminds behind the October 7 attack and whose killing it announced last year.
“The Al-Qassam Brigades announce to our great people the martyrdom of a group of distinguished fighters and heroic commanders,” Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, announced in a video statement, naming “commander Mohammed Deif, chief of staff of the Al-Qassam Brigades (and) commander Marwan Issa, deputy chief of staff” among them.
Israel had accused Deif of being one of the key architects of October 7, along with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed on October 16, 2024.
On August 1 last year, the Israeli military announced it had killed Deif in an air strike in Gaza the month before.
The military said fighter jets had struck Khan Yunis on July 13 and “following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike.”
He was killed along with one of his top commanders, Rafa Salama, the military said.
“Deif initiated, planned, and executed the October 7th massacre,” the military added.
Deif became head of Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, in 2002.
He was among Israel’s most wanted men for nearly three decades and on a US list of “international terrorists” since 2015.
Deif, whose real name is Mohammed Diab Al-Masri, was born in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in 1965.
In videos, Deif had appeared masked or shown in silhouette, and photos of him were rare.
In January 2024, Israel released a picture of Deif showing him with one eye missing, without specifying when it was taken.
His enemies dubbed Deif the “cat with nine lives” after his many close calls with death.
In 2014, Israel launched an air strike on Gaza, killing Deif’s wife and a seven-month-old son.
Deif is said to have played a key role in the huge network of tunnels built beneath Gaza.
In May, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court requested a warrant for his arrest, along with Sinwar, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Until Thursday, Hamas had not confirmed his death.
Hamas confirms death of its military chief Mohammed Deif
https://arab.news/5x4a8
Hamas confirms death of its military chief Mohammed Deif
- “The Al-Qassam Brigades announce to our great people the martyrdom of a group of distinguished fighters and heroic commanders,” Abu Obeida, Hamas’ spokesman announced
- In videos, Deif had appeared masked or shown in silhouette, and photos of him were rare
Lebanon approves release of former minister accused of corruption
- Salam is the only ex-minister to be arrested since the start of Lebanon’s economic crisis in 2019
- The official added that the bail was paid, with procedures ongoing to secure his release from prison
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s judiciary approved the release on bail of former economy minister Amin Salam on Tuesday after six months of detention over corruption linked to contracts deemed suspicious, a judicial official said.
Salam, who served in the cabinet of former prime minister Najib Mikati from 2021 to 2025, is the only ex-minister to be arrested since the start of Lebanon’s economic crisis in 2019.
The official, who requested anonymity, told AFP Lebanon’s judiciary “agreed to release former economy minister Amin Salam on bail of nine billion Lebanese pounds, equivalent to $100,000” and a travel ban.
The official added that the bail was paid, with procedures ongoing to secure his release from prison.
In June, another judicial official said Salam had been arrested in connection with alleged “falsification, embezzlement and suspicious contracts.”
Salam’s adviser Fadi Tamim was sentenced in 2023 to one year in prison for blackmail and personal enrichment at the expense of insurance companies.
The former minister’s brother Karim Salam was also arrested earlier this year in a “case of illicit enrichment, forgery and extortion of insurance companies,” committed “under cover of the minister himself,” the official said in June.
Many in Lebanon attribute the economic crisis to mismanagement and corruption that has plagued state institutions for decades.
President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who both took office this year, have vowed to make the fight against endemic corruption a priority, as part of the reforms demanded by international donors.
Both have vowed to uphold the independence of the judiciary and prevent interference in its work, in a country plagued by official impunity.
In September, former central bank governor Riad Salameh, who faces numerous accusations including embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion, was released after being detained for over a year by paying a record bail of more than $14 million.
