Headline Roundup • July 15th, 2024
IDF Kills Hamas Commander, Dozens of Civilians in Weekend Strikes
Middle East,Israel Hamas Violence,Defense And Security,Israel,Palestine,Gaza,Hamas,Schools,Refugees,World
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Israeli airstrikes reportedly killed at least 90 in a designated safe area in southern Gaza over the weekend, targeting and possibly killing Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif.
The Details: The strike took place in a designated safe area in Al-Mawasi, a town on the western outskirts of the city of Khan Younis, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had sought refuge. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the war would not cease until Hamas' military capabilities were diminished, setting the stage for further conflict escalation.
For Context: While the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) didn't immediately confirm whether the targeted Deif was killed, it did report killing Khan Yunis Brigade commander Rafa’a Salameh, a close associate of Deif. Deif was an architect of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that killed over 1,200 in Israel.
How the Media Covered It: Coverage often echoed past trends, with some outlets signaling more sympathy for Palestinians than others. For instance, Al Jazeera (Lean Left bias) highlighted that Israel’s strikes sparked “panic” and hit several schools in a “week of ‘massacres.’” Other sources tended to focus instead on Deif; The Times of Israel (Center bias) said Israel merely struck Deif’s “location” at Salameh’s “compound.” The Times also said “Hamas has claimed” 90 were killed, while Reuters (Center bias) and CNN (Lean Left bias) attributed the figure to “Palestinian officials” and “the Gaza Health Ministry,” respectively. An editor wrote this summary with the help of AllSides-powered AI.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Mohammed Salem/Reuters
At least 90 Palestinians have been reported killed in an Israeli strike on a displacement camp in southern Gaza which Israel said targeted Hamas’ military chief, who was an alleged mastermind of the October 7 attacks.
Footage from Al-Mawasi, which has been designated as a safe zone for Palestinians fleeing the fighting elsewhere, shows bodies in the street and destroyed tents.
A senior staffer at UNRWA, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, described the Nasser hospital, which took in victims of the strike, as “the most horrific scenes I have seen...
REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Israel struck the southern and central Gaza Strip on Monday to put more pressure on Hamas, following a weekend strike targeting the militant group's leadership, which killed scores of Palestinians who had sought shelter in a makeshift camp.
Two days after the Israeli strike turned a crowded swathe of Mawasi near the Mediterranean coast into a charred wasteland littered with burning cars and mangled bodies, displaced survivors said they had no idea where they should go next.
"Those moments as the ground shook underneath my feet and the dust and sand rose...
AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi
Israeli forces waited weeks to target Rafa Salameh, the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, at his family’s compound in southern Gaza, hoping that a more senior Hamas leader, Mohammed Deif, Hamas’s top military commander, would arrive.
The patience of the Israelis appeared to pay off for them, who believe Deif traveled to Salameh’s compound this weekend, according to the New York Times. Israeli forces subsequently carried out airstrikes on it, even though it was inside a designated humanitarian zone.
Israel’s military said that the strike had killed the lieutenant, Rafa Salameh, but could not confirm that Deif...
