Netanyahu says ‘no absolute certainty Deif was eliminated’ – promises to hit Hamas ‘until they are completely defeated’

Hamas calls for 'Palestinian people to escalate clashes' with Israel in response to strike on Deif

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In a briefing to the Israeli press on Saturday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the attempt to kill Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif and his deputy Rafa'a Salameh in Khan Younis earlier in the day, stating, "There is no absolute certainty yet that they were eliminated."

In addition, the prime minister warned: “One way or another, we will reach the entire Hamas leadership.”

Netanyahu praised the intelligence that led to the strike, stating that Israel has “identified clear cracks in Hamas” due to the military pressure from the IDF.

Israel has attempted to kill Deif on multiple occasions due to his role in planning and carrying out numerous terror attacks against Israeli civilians and military targets. The previous attempt to assassinate Deif was in 2021.

Netanyahu said he approved the strike being assured there were no hostages in the area and being briefed on the likely extent of collateral damage.

“Mohammed Deif is the chief murderer, Hamas’s chief of staff, number two in the chain of command,” Netanyahu stated. “Deif is the architect and leader of the massacre on October 7, and of many other terror attacks. His hands are dripping in the blood of many Israelis.”

He promised to continue the fight against Hamas terrorists “all across Gaza.”

“We will continue to strike the terrorists with unprecedented power until they are completely defeated,” he said. "Our forces are advancing determinedly all across Gaza – in Rafah, Khan Yunis, Shejaiya, and the Philadelphi Corridor. We are reaching every place from which terrorists set out on October 7.”

On Saturday night, Hamas deputy leader Khalil Al-Hayya denied the reported killing of Deif, telling Al Jazeera News, “We say to Netanyahu that Mohammed Deif is listening to you now and mocking your false and empty statements."

Al-Hayya also accused Israel of claiming to target Deif to “cover up the scale of the horrific massacre.”

“We are reassured despite the pain we are experiencing for dozens of victims and martyrs, and we confirm that the blood of the leader Mohamed guest is not more precious than the blood of the youngest Palestinian child, and the claim of targeting leaders here and there is an absurd justification for the killing of women and children, and every Palestinian, whether in Gaza, the West Bank or anywhere,” Al-Hayya stated.

Hamas called on Palestinians living in the territories of Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem to carry out terror attacks against Israelis to avenge the strike in Khan Younis.

In a press statement on Saturday, the terror group called on “the masses of our Palestinian people in the West Bank and Jerusalem to go out in mass demonstrations in the face of the criminal Zionist occupation and the herds of its terrorist settlers who wreak havoc in the villages and cities of the West Bank, and to escalate clashes with them in defense of our land, our holy sites and our right to freedom and independence.”