FT: the attack on Israel was organized by the leader of Hamas, whom the IDF has been hunting for 20 years
The head of the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement, Mohammed Deif, is behind the attack on Israel, which has already claimed the lives of over 1,000 residents of the country. Israeli intelligence hunted him for over 20 years, writes The Financial Times.
On October 7, just a few hours after the start of the unprecedented attack on Israel, a video recording allegedly made by Deif was published online. The militant, whose face is difficult to see in the twilight, announced the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. According to him, Hamas has decided to put an end to crimes against Palestinians and the “orgy of occupiers” who ignore international law and UN resolutions, but enjoy the support of the United States and other Western countries.
To make the enemy understand that he can no longer feast without paying the price
Deif has led Hamas’s military wing since the 1990s and has organized dozens of attacks.
Quite little is known about the early life of Mohammed Deif. He was reportedly born in 1965 in the Khan Younis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip. His family was so poor that as a child he had to leave his studies for a short time in order to help his family financially: at first he and his father worked as an upholsterer, then opened a small poultry farm and worked as a driver, asserts Asharq Al-Awsat publication.
In 1988, Deif graduated from the Islamic University of Gaza, where he studied biology. While studying, Deif tried himself as an actor and even participated in several student productions, playing historical figures. There he became interested in radical ideas and headed an Islamist university association close to the Muslim Brotherhood organization (recognized as terrorist in Russia), on the basis of which Hamas was formed in 1987.
That same year, Deif reportedly took part in the first intifada, for which he spent 16 months in an Israeli prison. Since the 1990s, he has been actively involved in Hamas’s newly created military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. In 2000, Deif was again arrested by the Palestinian Authority at the request of Israel, but during the second intifada, according to various sources, either was released, or managed to escape. In 2002, he was appointed head of the al-Qassam brigade.
Deif is considered responsible for organizing dozens of terrorist attacks, kidnappings of Israeli soldiers, rocket attacks and the construction of a network of underground tunnels through which militants were transported into Israeli territory. In addition, he is called one of the developers of the Kassem unguided missiles used for shelling
Israel has been trying to eliminate Deif since 2001
Israeli military hunted Deif has been behind him for over 20 years, but he survived all five assassination attempts. Thus, in 2001, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tried to kill Deif along with his deputy, Adnan al-Ghul, but failed. In 2002, the Israeli military attacked Deif’s car with a Hellfire missile: the gunman in the back seat survived, but lost an eye and suffered a serious wound to his arm.
In 2003, the Israeli Air Force dropped a bomb on the building where Deif was located – but the striking force was not enough to completely destroy the structure. In 2006, the IDF struck Deif’s home again – he lost an arm and a foot, so he now has to use a wheelchair. Afterwards, the Israeli military made two more attempts to eliminate the militant, in 2014 and 2021, but again to no avail.
Due to his incredible vitality, Palestinians nicknamed Deif the cat with nine lives.
Deif leads an extremely secretive lifestyle
The general public has only a few low-quality photographs of one of the world’s most wanted terrorists, writes SCMP. Moreover, the most recent of them is 20 years old. Deif is a master of camouflage and does not use any electronics that could give away his geolocation to the Israeli intelligence services, said one of the Hamas members. For the purposes of secrecy, he also moves frequently, for example, staying just one night in the house of a Hamas supporter – thanks to the use of this tactic, the militant received the nickname Guest (Arab. Deif).
When his mother died in 2011, all the Hamas leaders came to the funeral, but Deif himself was not noticed there. According to one version, he did not come for safety reasons; according to another, he disguised himself as an elderly man
According to Israeli analysts, Deif, along with other Hamas leaders, also may be hiding in bunkers and underground tunnels under strategic locations such as Al-Shifa Hospital and UN offices, making it a difficult target for Israeli intelligence. He has an extremely small social circle, and he himself is a man of few words.
After the attack on Israel, Deif rose to the highest echelons of power in Hamas
The unprecedented attack, which killed more than 1,000 people in Israel and about 600 in retaliatory strikes in the Gaza Strip, has turned Deif into a “god” in the eyes of young people, the FT said, citing Israeli and Palestinian analysts. At the same time, Deif himself is not interested in the political struggle between Palestinian factions or within Hamas, according to the publication’s interlocutors familiar with him.
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Deif attempted to start a second war of Israeli independence. The main goal is the gradual destruction of Israel. This is one of the first steps, this is just the beginning
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