[5] Following the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, Israel ordered Palestinian civilians there to evacuate to designated humanitarian safe zones, including Al-Mawasi in December 2023.

[4][9][10][11] Following the airstrikes, Israeli quadcopter aircraft waited for the ambulance and civil defence teams and opened fire as soon as they arrived, according to eyewitnesses, a local journalist and the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.

[15] An arrest warrant was issued for Mohammed Deif by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on 21 November 2024, alongside Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.

[19][20] In the weeks preceding the attacks, Israel had expanded the "safe zone" to parts of Khan Yunis, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had evacuated there.

[21] The IDF said that it had intelligence that Mohammed Deif and another Hamas commander, Rafa Salama, were located in a "compound" bordering the al-Mawasi area safe zone.

[22][23] An IDF spokesperson said: "If Hamas senior leaders think they'll build a compound and hide in a compound in an area where we called for them [civilians] to move to, we will hunt them down"[21] Al Jazeera correspondent, Hamdah Salhut, said that Israeli forces "commonly" claim civilians are being used as human shields by Hamas to justify attacking safe zones: "We have seen time and time again attacks on areas where there are displaced Palestinians in the tens of thousands.

[22] A correspondent for The New Arab reported that Israeli airstrikes also targeted rescue teams as they attempted to help wounded victims, killing some rescuers.

The postman, who was involved in delivering messages and gathering information about Hamas operations, saw Mohammed Deif during his route and reported his location to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

[29] Eyewitnesses and Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said that after the attack, squadrons of quadcopter aircraft that waited for the ambulance and civil defence teams and opened fire as soon as they arrived.

[37][38][39] Hamas dismissed the IDF's claims that it had targeted its leaders, labeling them as "false allegations" that aimed to "cover up the scale of the horrific massacre".

[40] In early November 2024, according to Asharq Al-Awsat (a London-based Saudi newspaper), Hamas privately acknowledged Mohammed Deif's death and confirmed that contact with him was lost following the strike.

[11][42][43] An arrest warrant was issued for Mohammed Deif by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on 21 November 2024, alongside Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.