"The wife of the great leader was martyred with his daughter," in a strike Tuesday night, Hamas's exiled deputy leader Mussa Abu Marzuk wrote on Facebook while saying nothing about the fate of Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades commander Mohammed Deif himself.
The Israeli military said it hit more than 25 sites in Gaza Tuesday but would not elaborate.
Tuesday's deaths of the woman and a two-year-old girl were the first as a result of Israeli air raids in Gaza since August 10.
In a strike Wednesday morning on the southern Gaza town of Deir el-Balah a pregnant woman, three children and two men were killed, all members of the Aloah family, emergency services said.
They said that the woman was nine months pregnant but medics were unable to save the foetus.
More than a month of Israeli attacks have has killed at least 2,026 Palestinians and 67 on the Israeli side since July 8.
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