Mohammed Deif

Mohammed Deif (born Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Masri; 1965) is a Palestinian militant and the current military commander of Hamas's military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
Mohammad Masri was born in 1965 in the Khan Yunis Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip that was set up after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Soon after joining Hamas in 1990, he became known as Mohammed Deif (meaning "guest" in Arabic), due to his nomadic lifestyle.
Despite being the Israeli military's 'most wanted' man since 1995 for orchestrating the killings of Israeli soldiers and civilians, he has survived seven assassination attempts in the past two decades. In the first assassination attempt on his life, he is thought to have lost an eye, and in the second, to have lost a part of his arm; he is thought to be handicapped. Deif's wife, 7-month infant son, and 3-year-old daughter were killed by an Israeli airstrike in 2014. The most recent Israeli attempt to kill Deif was during Operation Guardian of the Walls in May 2021.
The United States Department of State added Deif to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists on 8 September 2015.
Early life
Deif was born Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Masri in the Khan Yunis refugee camp south of the Gaza Strip in 1965, to a Palestinian refugee family from al-Qubeiba who were forced to leave their village during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
Deif joined the Hamas movement at the end of 1987. He returned to complete his education at the Islamic University of Gaza, where he graduated in 1988 after obtaining a bachelor's degree in science.
During this time at the Islamic University, Deif created the theater group al-Ayedun, The Returnees, as he is known for his passion for acting, playing several roles, including historical figures.
The military wing of Hamas, al-Qassam Brigades, was established by Deif and his colleagues after his release from Israeli prison in 1989, where he spent 16 months detained without charge.
During the 1990s, he participated in and supervised military operations against Israel.
Militant career
Hamas
Deif joined Hamas in 1990 with the help of Yahya Ayyash and Adnan al-Ghoul, his long time associates. In 1994, Deif was involved in the kidnappings and killing of IDF soldiers Shahar Simani, Aryeh Frankenthal and Nachshon Wachsman. He was personally responsible, along with Yahya Ayyash, for the bus bombings in Jerusalem and Ashkelon, attacks that killed about 50 Israelis. Five suicide bombers he sent into Israel in March 2000 were killed by Yamam. After his release from PA prison in April 2001, he was involved in a 'wave of bombing attacks' that lasted several months during the second intifada.
Deif became the supreme military commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades after Israel assassinated Salah Shehade in July 2002. Israel holds him directly responsible for the murder of dozens of civilians in numerous suicide bombings since 1995, among them the Jaffa Road bus bombings in Jerusalem. He along with Nidal Fat'hi Rabah Farahat and Adnan al-Ghoul played a key role in the attacks perpetrated in Israel. Deif has been the top of Israel's most wanted list for over two decades.
In February 2006, some Israeli media argued that Deif would build an Al Qaeda network in the Gaza Strip since he did not support the approach of Hamas. This claim, however, was denied by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
Assassination attempts
He has survived five Israeli air strikes, which caused him serious injuries and handicaps. Despite initial reports of his death in an Israeli air strike on 27 September 2002, an Israeli intelligence official confirmed that he survived the attack. His senior assistant, Adnan al-Ghoul, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on 21 October 2004.
In the early morning hours of 12 July 2006, an Israeli F16 aircraft bombed a house in which high-level ranking Hamas leaders were meeting. Deif survived the blast, but severely injured his spine. After this event, Ahmed Jabari became the acting commander of Hamas military wing Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
On 19 August 2014, the Israeli air force conducted an airstrike on a house in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Radwan in Gaza City that killed Deif's wife (27-year-old Widad Asfoura), two of his children (7-month-old son Ali and 3-year-old daughter Sara), as well as three other civilians. Hamas denied that Deif was killed. In April 2015, Israeli media citing intelligence sources confirmed that Deif had survived the assassination attempt.
During early May 2021, Deif was employed to issue a threat in the area by making a "final warning of Palestinian resistance regarding the Temple Mount". During Operation Guardian of the Walls in May 2021, it was reported that Israel military had tried to kill Deif twice in one week but that he got away at the last minute both times.
Quotes
In December 2010, the Hamas movement marked the 23rd anniversary of its establishment with an official booklet entitled The Path of Glory (Darb al-ezza), which includes statements by Hamas military leaders alongside statistical and numerical data on military operations carried out against Israel.
Mohammed Deif wrote: "The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades ... are better prepared to continue on our exclusive path to which there is no alternative, and that is the path of jihad and the fight against the enemies of the Muslim nation and mankind.... We say to our enemies: you are going on the path to extinction (zawal), and Palestine will remain ours including Al-Quds (Jerusalem), Al-Aqsa (mosque), its towns and villages from the (Mediterranean) Sea to the (Jordan) River, from its North to its South. You have no right to even an inch of it."
On 14 December 2022, Al Deif issued a Statement during the 35th Anniversary Celebration to mark the Founding of Hamas. Deif said: "Let all the flags unite. Let all the fronts unite. Let all the platforms (of Resistance) to be opened towards a single goal, and that is the Liberation of Palestine."
2023 Israel–Hamas war
Deif said in a recorded message on the first day of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, that it was in response to what he called the "desecration" of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and Israel killing and wounding hundreds of Palestinians in 2023. He called on Palestinians and Arab Israelis to "expel the occupiers and demolish the walls". He continued, "in light of the continuing crimes against our people, in light of the orgy of occupation and its denial of international laws and resolutions, and in light of American and western support, we've decided to put an end to all this, so that the enemy understands that he can no longer revel without being held to account."
References
1965 births
Living people
Hamas military members
Anti-Israeli sentiment
Individuals designated as terrorists by the United States government
Palestinian Muslims
Survivors