The IDF carried out one of its most significant operations in the Gaza Strip on Saturday since the start of the war against Hamas, executing a strike that targeted one of the masterminds behind the October 7 attack, Mohammad Deif.
Eliminating Deif, the leader of the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades and Hamas’ second-in-command in Gaza, would be a significant blow. While there’s no official confirmation of his death and Hamas claims Deif is “fine,” it’s worth noting that Saudi news network Al-Hadath reported his deputy, Khan Younis Brigade Commander Rafa Salama, who was with Deif, was killed.
Deif, nicknamed “The Guest” for his habit of frequently changing locations to avoid detection, has long been hunted by Israel for his involvement in planning and executing numerous terror attacks throughout the 1990s and 2000s, including the 1996 Jaffa Road bus bombings.
Some facts about Saturday’s incident were immediately clear.
First, it took place in the al-Muwasi humanitarian zone near Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, and the IDF is investigating reports that a number of civilians died.
Second, the airstrike targeted senior Hamas operatives.
This latter point was highlighted in almost every international media outlet, noting that Deif might have been killed and invariably referring to him as the Hamas “military chief” or the “architect of October 7,” with a few notable exceptions.
The BBC botched an initial report on July 13. On its YouTube channel, the broadcaster framed the incident as “90 killed and 300 injured” in an Israeli strike on a Gaza “humanitarian area” and only mentioned later in the report that Israel was targeting senior Hamas commanders, including Deif.
Similarly, CBS News neglected to mention Deif in its headline, describing it instead as an “Israeli attack on the southern Gaza Strip” that left “at least 90 dead,” according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.
The Irish Times reported the death toll as fact, without any attribution, in a piece headlined, “Gaza: At least 90 killed, 300 injured in Israeli airstrike on designated humanitarian zone.”
The focus on the strike taking place in a designated humanitarian zone explains why there were civilian casualties. However, not a single media outlet commented on the fact that senior Hamas commanders, including Deif, were intentionally hiding there. This omission ignores the blatant reality that Hamas exploits civilian areas for cover, leading to inevitable deaths.
Journalism students are often taught about the “five Ws” – Who? What? When? Where? Why? – to gather the essential points for a story. There used to be another critical question – one that many journalists now forget to ask: “How?”
How did Palestinian civilians die in an Israeli airstrike calculated to take out senior Hamas commanders?
The media should report the patently obvious answer: Deif and his terror acolytes chose to hide in the al-Muwasi humanitarian zone, using the men and women sheltering there as human shields.
Hamas leaders embed themselves within civilian populations because they want Palestinians to die, with Yahya Sinwar even describing civilian deaths as “necessary sacrifices.” On Saturday, The New York Times detailed how Hamas terrorists, dressed in plain clothes, “hide under residential neighborhoods, storing their weapons in miles of tunnels and in houses, mosques, sofas — even a child’s bedroom — blurring the boundary between civilians and combatants.”
While the Israeli military makes every effort to minimize civilian harm — including, in this case, using accurate visualizations of the “open, wooded area” and acting on additional intelligence information — unintended casualties are a tragic consequence of Hamas’ strategy.
The fact is that Israel has a duty to defend its citizens and protect them from further harm. In the context of its war against Hamas in Gaza, this means eliminating the terrorists who perpetrated the very massacre that started this war.
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Photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT
