Hassan Barari, a professor of international affairs at Qatar University, said Israel’s military appears to be using so-called humanitarian safe zones as a trap to track and kill Hamas leaders.

“Mohammed Deif is a big target for the Israelis. They’ve been trying to kill him for ages. There have been several attempts on his life, but they have all failed. We know the importance of Mohammed Deif as a leader. But the question here – is it justifiable to kill like 50 people just because you want to kill a military leader?” Barari asked.

“[Deif] was targeted in an area that was designated by Israel itself to be safe one for the Palestinians, including Hamas officials. They can also go in and out of this area, because it was designated as safe. But I think the Israelis have been using this as a trap for Palestinians, in order to identify and track down Hamas leaders and try to kill them,” he said.

“If the price is killing hundreds of Palestinians, they do not care,” he added.