The Israeli army spokesman said that the operation to find Muhammad Al-Deif, commander-in-chief of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), will take a long time, after the Israeli media published a picture that it claimed was of Al-Deif.
Spokesman Daniel Hagari – in his press conference yesterday evening, Wednesday – refused to comment on the alleged photo, and said, “We have to find him and kill him, no matter how long it takes. It will take a long time and this is a mission that must be carried out.”
At the same time, Hagari stated that the Israeli army had finished destroying what it said was Qassam infrastructure under Al-Rantisi Hospital north of Gaza City, and claimed that their forces had found tunnels several kilometers long.
Earlier Wednesday, Israeli Channel 12 published a picture that it said was of Muhammad Al-Deif, indicating that he sees with one eye.
This came after the Israeli media recently reported that during the military operations in the Gaza Strip, the intelligence services obtained video clips showing Al-Deif in a much better state of health, both physically and mentally, than Israeli officials had imagined, which the reports described as a new intelligence failure.
Channel 12 reported that video clips taken in places in the heart of the Gaza Strip show Al-Deif in several situations with other people in Hamas.
She added, “With one eye, he has one leg after he lost one eye and his other leg was amputated during a previous Israeli assassination attempt, but he is still able to walk on his own. He does not use a wheelchair, and he can use both hands.”
The channel said that Al-Deif has been an important target for the Israeli security system for years, and although it harmed him, it was unable to eliminate him.
The Israeli government has repeatedly announced that one of the goals of its war on Gaza is to liquidate Hamas leaders, the first of whom are the movement’s head in Gaza, Yahya al-Sinwar, and the commander-in-chief of the al-Qassam Brigades, Muhammad al-Deif, and it has allocated financial rewards for anyone who provides information indicating their whereabouts.
Hamas did not comment on what was circulated in the Israeli media regarding the guest and his alleged photo.
Since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip that, as of Wednesday, left 21,110 martyrs and 55,243 wounded, and most of the martyrs and wounded were women and children.