Mohammed Deif, the Hamas military commander in Gaza, has escaped a new Israeli assassination attempt and is doing “well,” a senior official with the Palestinian group said.
The Hamas official’s statement on Sunday followed reports that Deif was the target of a massive Israeli airstrike on the southern part of the besieged territory, which killed at least 90 people and wounded 300 others.
“Commander Mohammed Deif is doing well and is directly supervising” the operations of Hamas’ military wing, the official told AFP news agency.
Israel says its bombing Saturday of al-Mawasi camp, a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza, was aimed at killing Deif, who has long been at the top of Israel’s most wanted list.
Responding to Hamas’s allegations, Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said in a televised statement Sunday that Hamas is “covering up the results” of its airstrike on a compound where Deif is believed to be hiding.
“It is still too early to assess the full extent of the attack, which Hamas is trying to hide,” Halevi said.
Deif is one of the founders of the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, in the 1990s and has led the force for more than 20 years. He is also considered a key figure in planning suicide bombings that have killed dozens of Israelis.
Israel has identified him and Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, as the main architects of the October 7 attack that killed at least 1,139 people in southern Israel and triggered its war on Gaza.
On the morning of October 7, Hamas released a rare voice recording of Deif announcing Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, signaling that the attack was revenge for Israeli raids on Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site.
Deif, 58, rarely speaks or appears in public. So when Hamas TV announced that he would speak on October 7, Palestinians in Gaza knew something big was afoot.
Speaking in a calm voice in the recording, Deif said Hamas had repeatedly warned Israel to stop its crimes against Palestinians, release prisoners and halt the expropriation of Palestinian land.
“Today, the anger of Al-Aqsa, the anger of our people and our nation explodes. Our mujahideen (fighters), today is your day to make this criminal understand that his time has come,” Deif said.
“People’s Hero” by Khan Younis
Born in 1965 in the Khan Younis refugee camp, established after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Mohammad Masri became known as Mohammed Deif after joining Hamas during the first intifada, or Palestinian uprising, in 1987.
Deif graduated in science from the Islamic University of Gaza, where he studied physics, chemistry and biology. He headed the university’s entertainment committee and often performed on stage.
In 1989, at the height of the first Palestinian Intifada, Deif was arrested by Israel and released after 16 months in detention. He became the leader of the Qassam Brigades in 2002 after Israel killed his predecessor and founding leader, Salah Shehadeh.
The numerous assassination attempts against him began after he succeeded Shehadeh.
Deif means “visitor” or “guest” in Arabic, and some say that’s because the Hamas military commander is always on the move with Israeli fighter jets hot on his tail.
Deif reportedly lost an eye and was seriously injured in the leg in an assassination attempt by Israel. His survival while leading Hamas’s military wing made him a “folk hero” to Palestinians.
Having risen through the ranks of Hamas for more than 30 years, Deif is credited with developing the group’s tunnel network and bomb-making expertise.
In August 2014, Deif’s wife and seven-month-old son were killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a home in Gaza where the family was staying.
In May, the International Criminal Court prosecutor said he had requested arrest warrants for Deif, Sinwar and another Hamas official in connection with the October 7 attack. Arrest warrants have also been issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the Israeli response that has so far killed at least 38,584 people in what human rights groups describe as an ongoing genocide.
