Hamas said Wednesday that its military commander Mohammad Deif was alive and still calling the shots in the ongoing war with Israel in and around Gaza.

"The occupation will pay for its crimes against Palestinian civilians and those living around the Gaza border will not return home until Mohammad Deif decides," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri in a statement.

An Israeli airstrike levelled a six-storey house in Gaza City Tuesday, killing Deif's wife and infant son. The fate of the military commander himself has been uncertain.