Ronen Bergman, Patrick Kingsley and Adam Rasgon
Israel conducted a major airstrike in southern Gaza on Saturday morning that it said had targeted a top Hamas military commander who is considered one of the architects of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, according to six senior Israeli officials.
The Gaza Health Ministry said that 90 people had been killed in the assault, half of them women and children, and 300 wounded.
The commander targeted in the attack, Muhammad Deif, is the leader of the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing. He is the second most senior Hamas figure in Gaza, after its leader in the territory, Yahya Sinwar.
As of Saturday night, the status of Mr. Deif and Rafah Salameh, the leader of Hamas forces in Khan Younis, who Israeli officials say was also targeted in the attack, was unclear.
Speaking to reporters Saturday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel confirmed that Israeli forces had tried to assassinate Mr. Deif but that Israel did not yet have “absolute clarity” as to whether he had been killed.
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