The IDF on Sunday shed new light on the July 13 airstrike targeting Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif.
At this point, the military revealed that Deif was with 100% certainty in the room with Hamas Khan Yunis Brigade Commander Rafah Salame, when the bombs that were dropped and killed Salame struck.
That Salame was in fact killed and the size of the bombs make it a practical certainty that Deif was also killed, though IDF sources cautioned that in one of the prior failed attempted assassinations of Deif, e was in the room which was hit, but happened to be in a tiny part of the room which was just shielded enough by the surrounding objects and survived.
Air force kept a series of aircrafts and drones rotating above Deif's residence
Additional new details shared by the IDF included that the air force kept a series of five different pairs of aircraft and drones rotating through the role of hovering and passing by the residence where Deif was expected to visit Salame, such that the moment the war cabinet approved an operation, the air force would be able to open fire in practically no time at all.This is different from the standard situation where aircraft only take off to strike a target after approval is given which creates a certain amount of gap time when a target might escape.
Air force units were in the sky for more than a day and a half, waiting for the word to attack, though Israeli intelligence had been following Salame at the location for weeks.