A senior Hamas official was killed in an airstrike, Israel said

The Israeli military says it has confirmed that Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif was killed in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip last month.

Deif was targeted in a strike at a compound in the Khan Younis area on 13 July. Hamas is yet to confirm his death.

Israel says Deif was one of the people who planned the attack on Israel on October 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

On Wednesday, Hamas political leader Ismael Haniyeh was killed during a visit to Iran. Israel did not directly comment on his death.

Israel launched a major military operation in Gaza after the October offensive, saying it aimed to destroy Hamas.

At least 39,480 people have been killed so far, according to the health ministry run by Hamas in the Strip.

In its statement on Thursday, the Israeli military said that “following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was killed” in the July 13 strike.

Hamas-affiliated health authorities in Gaza said at the time that the air strike killed more than 90 people, but denied that Deif was among the dead.

Israel’s Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, said the death of Mohammed Deif was a “milestone” in the dismantling of Hamas.

“This operation shows that Hamas is disintegrating, and that Hamas terrorists will either surrender or be eliminated,” he added.

Mohammed Deif was the head of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of the Hamas organization.

For decades he was one of Israel’s most wanted men – and survived several assassination attempts, including one in 2002 when he lost an eye.

He was arrested by Israeli authorities in 1989. When he was released, he joined the Brigades, with the aim of capturing the Israeli army.

Israel accused him of planning and overseeing bombings that killed dozens of Israelis in 1996, and involvement in the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli soldiers in the mid-1990s.

He is also known to have helped engineer the construction of tunnels that allowed Hamas fighters to enter Israel from Gaza.

This headline is being reviewed and more details will be published soon. Please refresh the page to get the full version.

You can get Breaking News on your smartphone or tablet with BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on Twitter for the latest alerts.