(Times Of Israel) Israel was monitoring Rafa’a Salameh, the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, for weeks before striking his location Saturday, in hopes the terror group’s military commander Muhammad Deif would show up there, the New York Times reported Sunday night, citing Israeli officials.
Israel believes Deif did so on Saturday, leading to the strike that is confirmed to have killed Salameh, though Deif’s fate remains unknown.
Hamas has claimed some 90 people were killed in the strike and accused Israel of carrying out a “horrifying massacre” against civilians. Security officials have said many of those killed were Hamas operatives, with the strike conducted in a fenced-off area used by the organization.
Israel had been monitoring the compound in the Al-Mawasi area, where Salameh’s family owned a villa, for several months, three senior Israeli officials told the Times. Despite receiving confirmation weeks ago that the Khan Younis brigade commander was present, the strike was delayed in the hope that Deif would eventually venture out from the underground tunnels where he was thought to be hiding and join him there. the report said.
Deif and Salameh had a close relationship, the IDF said on Sunday, describing Salameh as one of the “closest associates” of the leader of Hamas’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
This, combined with intelligence that indicated Deif couldn’t spend extended time underground due to health problems caused by multiple failed assassination attempts, led the IDF to suspect he would eventually join Salameh at the designated humanitarian zone.
Salameh was reported to have been at the compound for significant periods in recent months, along with his family and other Hamas operatives, as IDF troops advanced on most of his other Khan Younis strongholds. The unnamed officials told the Times Salameh was often underground in the tunnels, but found the sprawling underground network stifling, which accounted for his willingness to spend time in the open.
The compound was located in the middle of an olive grove, with low buildings, sheds and tarps purportedly meant to prevent drones from gathering information on it. However, the Walla news site reported Monday that Israel was able to gather intel regardless.
Citing unnamed defense officials, the outlet reported that Hamas officials appeared to erroneously believe Israeli forces would be unlikely to suspect the location due to its relative exposure, and would also be unlikely to strike it due to its proximity to tent camps of displaced Palestinians.
