Jerusalem's hope has been to reshape the balance of power to restore a more secure ceasefire and regional quiet, but these moves have also put the region closer to spiralling into a larger war than at any other moment to date.
The first was Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif who was assassinated by Israel by airstrikes in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza on July 13, though the IDF only officially confirmed his death as certain on Thursday of last week.
Intelligence information, likely from human spying or electronic spying - though the IDF declined to divulge details - picked up the key confirmation only on Thursday morning.
Deif's killing is not only a bodyslam to Hamas's morale for the immediate future, as he was their most "heroic" military figure for more than the last decade, but there is a much more significant long-term impact. Deif's death, more than any other Hamas official, leaves the Gazan terror group without a national military manager to retrain and reconstitute its forces if and when the current war ends. READ MORE
