Following the IDF strike over the weekend targeting top Hamas officials, the IDF on Sunday confirmed the death of Rafa’a Salameh, the commander of the Khan Younis Brigade. But there has been no confirmation yet of Hamas No. 2 leader Muhammad Deif’s death, who has eluded death many times, surviving at least seven attempts by Israel to assassinate him since 2001.

However, assuming the intelligence that Dief was present in the villa was accurate, his death is almost certain. The IDF made sure of that, carrying out the attack in four stages.

The first stage was the firing of a precise missile that hit the part of the villa where Deif was staying. A second missile was then fired that destroyed the entire villa. A third attack created a “belt of fire” around the entire area to prevent emergency forces from coming to his aid. The fourth stage was an attack with a bunker-busting bomb to destroy any underground tunnels under the villa.

The last stage of the strike was carried out due to the IDF’s assessment that the villa had tunnels underneath leading to an underground compound.

The bunker-buster bomb attack flattened the area so even if Dief managed to escape the initial attacks and entered a tunnel, he would have been crushed in the fourth and final stage of the attack.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)