Mohammed Deif

Mohammed Deif ( ) Born in 1960 , is a commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades , the military wing of Hamas . He gained that position after Israel killed Salah Shehade in July, 2002. Israel suspects him of being a bombmaker and holds him personally responsible for the deaths of dozens of civilians in suicide bombings since 1996. He is considered a designer of the Qassam rocket together with Nidal Fat'hi Rabah Farahat and Adnan al-Ghoul . He had been under Palestinian custody from May 2000 until April 2001 when he was released. Deif was the person considered the top of Israel's most wanted list for several years. Despite initial reports of his death in an Israeli air strike on September 27, 2002, an Israeli official confirmed that he survived the attack. [1] He has survived five other Israeli strikes, which caused him serious handicaps. His senior assistant, Adnan al-Ghoul was killed by Israeli Air Force on October 21, 2004. On August 26, 2005, a man identifying himself as Mohammed Deif appeared in a videotape released by the brigades. With most of his body in a shadow and part of his face blackened out, Deif spoke in a deep voice about the recent Gaza withdrawal , praised the Hamas members who gave their lives during fighting in Gaza and vowed to continue to attack until Israel's destruction. In February 2006, some Israeli media outlets reported that Deif, unhappy with the truce announced by Hamas, decided to split from the group to join Al-Qaeda cells being established in the Gaza Strip. However, this was denied by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. [2] In the early morning hours of July 12, 2006, Israeli aircraft blasted a house where high-level Hamas leaders were meeting. Deif survived the blast, but severely injured his spine, which could leave him paralyzed [3] . According to some unnamed Palestinian sources, Deif's condition is very serious, with him becoming a quadruple amputee as a result. On 6 September 2006, Egyptian newspaper Al-Wafd reported that Deif was captured by Egyptian authorities while attempting to enter Egypt to get health care for injuries caused by the Israeli attack in July.

Mohammed Deif ( ; born 1965 in Khan Younis ), born Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri , serves as the chief commander of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades , the military wing of the organization Hamas . He has been Israel’s 'most wanted’ man for the last 20 years for his involvement in mutliple kidnappings of Israeli soldiers, sending suicide terrorists and planting bombs on buses. Last Israeli attempt to kill Deif was in an airstrike on 19 August 2014. Hamas denied that Deif was killed.

Mohammed Deif ( ; born 1965 in Khan Younis ), born Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri , is the chief of staff and supreme military commander of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades , the military wing of Hamas . He has been Israel’s 'most wanted’ man for the last 24 years since 1995 for his direct involvement in terrorist attacks such as the killings of IDF soldiers, suicide bombings and kidnappings. The last Israeli attempt to kill Deif was in an airstrike on 19 August 2014. Hamas denied that Deif was killed. Deif's wife, infant son, and daughter died in the attack. The United States Department of State added Deif to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists on 8 September 2015.

Palestinian militant commander (born 1965) Mohammed Deif ( ; born 1965 in Khan Younis ), born Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri , is a Palestinian militant and supreme military commander of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades , the military wing of Hamas . He has been the Israeli military 's 'most wanted' man since 1995 for orchestrating the killings of Israeli soldiers and civilians , including suicide bombings . The most recent Israeli attempt to kill Deif was during Operation Guardian of the Walls in May 2021. Deif's wife, infant son, and daughter were killed by an Israeli attack in 2014. Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri also known as Mohammed “Deif” (ضيف = “guest” in Arabic) was given to him because he’s constantly changing his location. The United States Department of State added Deif to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists on 8 September 2015. GMA News Online . 20 August 2014 . The Daily Star Newspaper - Lebanon . Alma Research and Education Center .

Palestinian militant with Hamas (1965–2024) This article is about the former head of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. He succeeded Salah Shehade following the latter's assassination in an Israeli airstrike in July 2002, until his assassination in July 2024. He was succeeded by Mohammed Sinwar , the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar . He was a central figure in the Gaza war and one of the masterminds of the October 7 attacks , alongside Yahya Sinwar. Deif was born in 1965 in the Khan Yunis Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip , to a family that had fled or been expelled during the 1948 Palestine war . He reportedly left school temporarily to support his low-income family, later graduating with a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the Islamic University of Gaza in 1988, where he had established a theater group. Deif joined Hamas in 1987, weeks after it was established during the First Intifada against the Israeli occupation . He later became known as Mohammed Deif, meaning "guest" in Arabic—possibly in reference to the nomadic lifestyle he adopted to avoid being targeted. During the 1990s and early 2000s, he planned several suicide bombing attacks, including the 1996 Jaffa Road bus bombings . He became the head of the al-Qassam Brigades in 2002 and developed the group's capabilities, transforming it from a cluster of amateur cells to organized military units. He masterminded the group's strategy of combining rocket attacks on Israel with tunnel warfare , and was central to planning the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel that initiated the Gaza war . Deif had been on the Israeli military's most wanted list since 1995 for killing Israeli soldiers and civilians. He was detained by the Palestinian Authority at Israel's request in 2000 before escaping months later. He had been targeted in multiple Israeli assassination attempts since 2001, surviving at least seven attempts on his life. His wife, infant son, and 3-year-old daughter were killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2014. The United States and the European Union added Deif to their terrorism lists in 2015 and 2023 respectively. Israel assassinated Deif in an airstrike on al-Mawasi on 13 July 2024 . In November 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Deif, claiming it was unable to verify his death. The warrant was cancelled in late February 2025. Times of Israel. 26 February 2025 . There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).