Hamas: Military chief not present at Gaza strike
By IBRAHIM BARZAK and IAN DEITCH, Associated Press
Aug 20, 2014 9:12 AM CDT
Smoke and dust rise after an Israeli strike hit Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014. The Israeli military said it carried out a series of airstrikes Tuesday across the Gaza Strip in response to renewed rocket fire, a burst of violence that broke a temporary cease-fire and endangered...   (Associated Press)

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — A Hamas spokesman says the group's elusive military chief was not present during an Israeli strike on a Gaza Strip house that killed his wife and son.

Sami Abu Zuhri says Mohammed Deif "wasn't even in the location when they bombed it." Abu Zuhri was speaking to Hamas' TV station Al-Aqsa on Wednesday.

An Israeli strike on the three-story house late Tuesday killed Deif's wife and child, as well as three others.

Deif has escaped numerous Israeli assassination attempts in the past.

Israel has not commented on the strike.

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