- Mohammed Deif survives Israeli assassination attempt
- Deif directs Hamas operations despite strike
- Israeli airstrike on Gaza kills 90, injures 300
Mohammed Deif, Hamas’s military leader in Gaza, has avoided another Israeli assassination attempt and is “fine,” according to a top Palestinian official.
The Hamas official’s announcement on Sunday came after claims that Deif was targeted in a large Israeli air strike on the besieged territory’s southern region, which killed at least 90 people and injured 300 more.
An official told AFP that “Commander Mohammed Deif is well and directly overseeing” the operations of the Hamas military wing.
Israel claims its Saturday attack on the al-Mawasi camp, a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza, was intended to murder Deif, who has long been on Israel’s most wanted list.
In response to Hamas’ assertion, Israel’s Chief of General Staff, Herzi Halevi, stated in a televised statement on Sunday that Hamas is “concealing the results” of an air strike on a facility where Deif is alleged to be hiding.
“It is still too soon to sum up the results of the attack, those which Hamas is trying to hide,” Halevi observed.
Deif co-founded Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, in the 1990s and has led it for almost 20 years. He is also reported to have had a crucial role in planning suicide bombs that killed hundreds of Israelis.
Israel accused him and Hamas’ Gaza head, Yahya Sinwar, as the masterminds of the October 7 attack, which killed at least 1,139 people in southern Israel and sparked its war with Gaza.
On the morning of October 7, Hamas released a rare voice recording of Deif announcing the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation, indicating that the attack was retaliation for Israeli raids on Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site.
Deif, aged 58, rarely speaks or appears in public. So when Hamas’ TV channel announced he would talk on October 7, Palestinians in Gaza sensed something was up.
Deif, speaking calmly in the recording, stated that Hamas had repeatedly warned Israel to stop its atrocities against Palestinians, release the detainees, and halt its land expropriation.
“Today, Al-Aqsa’s fury, as well as that of our people and nation, is bursting. Our mujahedeen [fighters], now is your day to make this criminal realize that his time is up,” Deif stated.
‘Folk hero’ from Khan Younis
Mohammad Masri was born in 1965 in the Khan Younis refugee camp, which was established following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. He became known as Mohammed Deif after joining Hamas during the first Intifada, or Palestinian uprising in 1987.
Deif earned a scientific degree from Gaza’s Islamic University, where he studied physics, chemistry, and biology. He chaired the university’s entertainment committee and frequently performed on stage.
Deif was detained by Israel in 1989, at the height of the first Palestinian Intifada, and was released after 16 months in custody. He took over as chief of the Qassam Brigades in 2002 after Israel assassinated his predecessor and founding leader, Salah Shehadeh.
Several attempts at his life began after he defeated Shehadeh.
Deif means “visitor” or “guest” in Arabic, and others believe this is because the Hamas military commander is constantly on the move, with Israeli hunters on his trail.
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According to sources, Deif lost an eye and suffered significant leg injuries during one of Israel’s assassination attempts. His survival while leading Hamas’ military branch made him a “folk hero” among Palestinians.
Deif is thought to have built Hamas’ tunnel network and bomb-making abilities after rising through the ranks over 30 years.
In August 2014, Deif’s wife and seven-month-old boy were killed in an Israeli air attack on the family’s Gaza home.
In May, the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court said that he had obtained arrest warrants for Deif, Sinwar, and another Hamas figure in connection with the October 7 incident. Warrants were also filed for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in connection with Israel’s reaction, which has killed at least 38,584 people in what rights groups call an ongoing genocide.
