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Israel Admits Deif Survived Assassination Attempt
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| Deif, cautious and sharp, forced Israel to admit its failure to locate his whereabouts here he was during the last few years |
OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, September 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Israel
admitted it failed in its attempt to assassinate Mohammed Deif, a
leader in the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of the
Islamic resistance movement Hamas.
Deif
escaped a Gaza City assassination bid with only moderate injuries, an
Israeli cabinet minister told army radio Friday, September 27, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) reported.
On
Thursday, September 27, an Israeli Apache combat helicopter fired at
least one rocket at the taxi Deif and other Hamas activists were
traveling in the Sheikh Radwan district in the north of the city,
Palestinian medical and security officials told AFP.
Three
Palestinians were killed and at least 40 injured in the blast, more
than 15 of them children, officials said. The strike occurred near a
children’s hospital in an area where there are also several schools.
The
strike happened at the time when schools were letting out.
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| 3 Palestinians were killed and at least 40 injured in the blast, more than 15 of them children |
Deif,
36, is the most high-profile Hamas member on Israel's list of most
wanted Palestinian resistance activists. They claim he took over from
Salah Shehade, whom Israel assassinated in July with a U.S.-made
F-16 warplane that dropped a one-ton bomb on a densely populated area
in Gaza, killing him and 17 civilians, including eleven children.
This
assassination attempt on Deif's life is not the first. He was able to
escape many Israeli attempts to capture or kill him, driving Israelis
furious as much as more determined to liquidate him.
Known
to be extremely cautious and sharp, Deif forced the Israeli
Intelligence to admit its failure to locate his hideouts during the
last few years.
"The
information I have been getting from our services shows he [Deif] has
been injured but that his life is not in danger," said Sports
Minister Matan Vilnai, a member of Israel's security cabinet.
A
few hours after Thursday's helicopter attack, Israeli security
services claimed they were 99 percent sure the senior leader of the
Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades had been killed in the raid.
Vilnai
told the radio that Deif had survived the missile attack because
Israel had allegedly not used powerful enough weapons.
Vilnai's
announcement confirmed strong denials from the Hamas military wing of
their leader's assassination.
Deif
is safe and he was not even in the car, said Abdel-Aziz Al-Rantissi, a
senior Hamas official, adding that Israel’s blind terrorism will
never kill the resistance and will of the Palestinian people.
Two
rank-and-file Hamas members, Abdel-Rahim Hamdan, 40, and Issa Ajarem,
35, were killed instead, the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades said Thursday.
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