Hamas secretly buried Muhammad Deif's body in Gaza after killed in Israeli airstrike - report

Hamas managed to locate the body of Muhammad Deif, the former military leader of Hamas, under the rubble of an airstrike that eliminated him in the area of Al-Mawasi and buried it in secret, Israeli state broadcaster KAN reported on Wednesday, citing Palestinian sources. 

According to KAN's source, Hamas secretly buried Deif's body in an undisclosed location without publicly announcing the location. 

The source noted that Hamas believes that if Israel learns of the burial site, the IDF will dig up the grave and take Deif's body to use as a bargaining chip in a hostage deal. 

Hamas sought to hide Deif's death 

According to KAN's report, Hamas also maintained discretion due to the terror group not having previously officially announced Deif's death out of concern that the news "would break the morale of the fighters in the Gaza Strip." Since the assassination, there have been multiple reports in Arab media sources claiming officials from the terror group admitted his death, but Hamas never put out an official statement.

The IDF confirmed in August that its July 13 airstrike targeting Deif succeeded in killing him. 

IDF sources indicated that some members of Hamas and Hezbollah have known for some time that Deif was dead but that others may not have known because portions of Hamas are currently cut off from the broader Hamas operational network.

Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.