Hamas rejects Israeli media claims about airstrike aimed at Al-Qassam Brigade commander

JERUSALEM

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Saturday rejected Israeli media claims that the Al-Qassam Brigade commander was the target of an Israeli airstrike on displaced Palestinians' tents in the southern Gaza Strip, which killed over 70 people and injured nearly 300 others.

Hamas said in a statement that Israeli media claims it targeted Mohammed Deif, the commander-in-chief of the Al-Qassam Brigades, and a top Palestinian commander in its attack on the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, are "unfounded."

It added that the Israeli media’s allegations “come to cover up the scale of the horrific massacre the (Israeli) occupation has committed.”

The attack on Saturday morning killed more than 71 Palestinians and injured 289 others, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Following the attack, the daily Israel Hayom claimed, without providing any evidence, that the main goal of the airstrike was to eliminate Mohammed 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.

Meanwhile, Israeli Army Radio also claimed that the attack targeted an "important figure" in Hamas, but the outcome is still unknown.

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 38,400 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 88,500 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli war, 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 Ikram Kouachi