IDF Confirms Hamas’ Shadowy 2nd In Command, Mohammed Deif, Killed In Airstrike

Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Thursday that the July 13 strike in Khan Younis killed Mohammed Deif, the commander of the terrorist group Hamas’ military wing, who was second only to Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip.

“Deif initiated, planned, and executed the October 7th Massacre, in which 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel and 251 hostages abducted into the Gaza Strip,” Israel National News noted, adding, “Over the years, Deif directed, planned, and carried out numerous terrorist attacks against the State of Israel. Deif operated side-by-side with Yahya Sinwar, and during the war, he commanded Hamas’ terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip by issuing commands and instructions to senior members of Hamas’ Military Wing.”

The strike also killed Rafa’a Salameh, the Commander of Hamas’ Khan Yunis Brigade, as well as other members of the terrorist organization.

“[T]he air force had 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,” The Jerusalem Post reported.

Although Deif had remained a shadowy figure for years, the morning of the October 7 attack, Hamas released a recording of him declaring the “Al Aqsa Flood” operation. “Kill, burn, destroy and block the roads. Make them understand that the Al Aqsa Flood is more powerful than they think and believe,” he said.

“Deif has been involved in Hamas’s operations for more than 20 years, plotting suicide bombings inside Israel, kidnapping soldiers, firing rockets and helping plan the tunnels used to launch attacks,” The Times of Israel reported in 2014, adding, “The Israelis see him as ‘the brains’ behind the campaign of suicide bombings that targeted buses and public places in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem until 2006.”

‘A Hero To All Of Us’: Trump Honors Firefighter Killed At Rally In Return To PA

Former President Donald Trump honored Corey Comperatore at a rally in Pennsylvania on Wednesday in his first stop in the Keystone State since he was nearly assassinated and Comperatore was fatally shot.

During his rally in Harrisburg, Trump began by talking about Comperatore, a 50-year-old firefighter who was killed by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks as he tried to take out Trump at a rally in Butler on July 13. Two other rally attendees were critically injured. 

“Most of all we lift the memory, our memory, to the brave firefighter who was so cruelly taken from us,” Trump said. “A very brave guy. Loved by his family and his friends. He was really loved.”

“In his last act on this earth, Corey threw himself over his wife and daughters and died shielding them from the bullets,” Trump added. “Corey is a hero to all of us.”

Trump talked about the fundraising efforts for Comperatore’s family, saying that one of his friends had donated $1 million to Comperatore’s wife. A GoFundMe page backed by the former president for Comperatore and the other rally victims has reached more than $6.5 million. 

“We will carry Corey’s spirit of love and devotion and patriotism for all time. And we will never forget Corey or his beautiful family,” Trump said, calling for a moment of silence. 

The other two victims, former Marine David Dutch and James Copenhaver, are recovering, Trump said Wednesday. He praised the doctors who treated them after the shooting, thanking them for their work. 

Copenhaver told Fox News Wednesday that he “is unafraid to voice his support for Trump, and he will not allow those who disagree with his views to silence him or prevent him from exercising his rights.”

“He’s 74 years old. He’s been around a long time. He’s witnessed a lot take place in this country. And this is definitely one of the worst things that he’s experienced as an American, and he wants people to understand that it does not have to be like this,” attorney Max Feldman said.

At Wednesday’s rally, Trump focused on going after Vice President Kamala Harris, saying that the Democratic Party installed her without any votes. He pointed out her previous criticism of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and promises to ban fracking, calling her a “radical Left puppet who is fake, fake, fake.” 

Trump is expected to return to Butler for a rally later this year.

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