Netanyahu says 'no absolute certainty' Hamas deputy killed in Al Mawasi strike

Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that there is "no absolute certainty" that the second-in-command of Hamas, Mohamed Deif, was killed in an air strike in southern Gaza on Saturday.

Israel said it had targeted Hamas' shadowy military commander in the massive strike on Al-Mawasi, an area the Israeli military had declared a safe zone.

Local health officials said at least 90 people, including children, were killed.

"Mohamed Deif is a master of murders, the Hamas chief of staff, number two in the chain of command. And was the planner and leader of the 7 October massacre and of many other terrorist attacks. His hands are stained with the blood of many Israelis," Netanyahu said.

Hamas immediately rejected the claim that Deif was in the area at the time of the strike.

Deif has survived seven Israeli assassination attempts, the most recent in 2021. He's been at the top of Israel's most wanted list for decades and is held responsible for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in a string of suicide bombings.

But Netanyahu did say that "cracks" were starting to appear in the Hamas leadership as it faced an increasingly intense Israeli military response.

"We see changes, we see weakness," he said.

"Today's operation contributed to it as well and it will bear more results. The commanders of Hamas are hiding in underground bunkers, they are cut off from their forces on the ground. The Gazan population understands more and more the magnitude of the disaster that Hamas, that many of them supported, ignores them."

Saturday's strike came as US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators continue to push to narrow the gaps between Israel and Hamas and strike a ceasefire deal but it’s unclear what impact the attack near Khan Younis will have on the delicate negotiations.

Netanyahu said he had not moved "a millimetre" away from the framework that was presented by US President Joe Biden.

"I also don't allow Hamas to move a millimetre from that framework. Hamas asked to add 29 changes to the framework and I told the negotiations team, 'not even a single change.'"

Two Egyptian security sources, speaking to the news agency Reuters on condition of anonymity, said talks had been halted after three intense days. They reportedly cited the behaviour of Israel’s mediators as revealing "internal discord".

Israel launched its campaign in Gaza after Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel, and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on October 7. Around 250 people were abducted.

Since then, Israeli ground offensives and bombardments have killed more than 38,300 people in Gaza and wounded more than 88,000, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

More than 80% of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes, and most are now crowded into squalid tent camps, facing widespread hunger.