Hamas' military wing confirmed the death of its leader al-Deif

Mohammed al-Deif, the leader of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (the military wing of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas), has indeed been killed. The group's spokesman Abu Ubaida said on January 30.

"We inform our people and our supporters around the world that Mohammed al-Deif has died," Ubayda said in a video message published on his Telegram channel.

Contributing to the freeze: how the truce between Israel and Hamas will work and how long it will last

On the first day of the deal, the Palestinian movement freed three hostages

Earlier, on October 17, 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had eliminated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Later, on January 13, 2025, The Wall Street Journal reported that his younger brother Mohammed Sinwar became the new leader of the Palestinian movement. In addition, on January 14, Hamas sent a request to Israel to extradite Yahya Sinwar's body as part of prisoner exchanges.

Prior to that, Sinwar' s predecessor Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran on July 31, 2024. He was killed when his residence was shelled after the inauguration of Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian.

The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian radical movement Hamas launched a massive rocket attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip and invaded border areas in the south and took hostages. Israel began retaliatory strikes the same day.

The Palestinians are trying to ensure that future borders between the two countries follow the lines that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War, with possible land swaps. Palestine wants to establish its own state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel refuses to return to the 1967 borders and divide Jerusalem.