Israel had tried—and failed—to kill Hamas’s top military leader, Mohammed Deif, several times. So when intelligence emerged he was hiding in a compound in southern Gaza, Israel struck with overwhelming force, hitting it with eight 2,000-pound bombs, people familiar with the operation said.
The force of the blast from the precision-guided munitions reduced the target to a smoldering crater. Scores of Palestinians in the area around the compound—which was home to a market, a water source and a soup kitchen serving displaced civilians—were killed and hundreds wounded, Palestinian authorities said.
Gaza health authorities said more than 90 people were killed and 300 were wounded, including many women and children.
The blasts left huge craters where the compound once stood in a wooded area. Wes Bryant, a retired senior targeting professional in the U.S. Air Force, said videos from the scene indicated that multiple 2,000-pound bombs were used.
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