To Target a Top Militant, Israel Rained Down Eight Tons of Bombs

Israel had tried—and failed—to kill Hamas’s top military leader, Mohammed Deif, several times. So when intelligence emerged he was hiding in a compound in southern Gaza, Israel struck with overwhelming force, hitting it with eight 2,000-pound bombs, people familiar with the operation said.

The force of the blast from the precision-guided munitions reduced the target to a smoldering crater. Scores of Palestinians in the area around the compound—which was home to a market, a water source and a soup kitchen serving displaced civilians—were killed and hundreds wounded, Palestinian authorities said. 

The bombs hit around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Israeli military officials said. Mahmoud Abu Amer, who said he was standing about 100 yards away at the time, described the scene as being “like a fiery belt” and said, “I saw people falling in front of me.” Others described a rain of shrapnel.