Word – Middle East Crisis: Israel Launches Major Attack That It Says Targeted a Top Hamas Commander
Muhammad Deif, the shadowy leader of Hamas’s military wing, was a mastermind of the Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and ignited the nine-month-old war in Gaza. A mysterious figure who has repeatedly escaped Israeli assassination attempts, Mr. Deif has been one of Israel’s most wanted men for decades.
He is revered within some Palestinian circles for overseeing the development of Hamas’s military capabilities and has been a symbol of the group’s resilience, finding ways to survive despite being a top target of one of the most powerful militaries in the Middle East.
On Oct. 7, as Hamas launched its attack on Israeli towns and military installations, Mr. Deif released a recorded speech declaring that the group had launched its operation so “the enemy will understand that the time of their rampaging without accountability has ended.”
“Righteous fighters, this is your day to bury this criminal enemy,” he said in the speech, which was broadcast on Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV. “Its time has finished. Kill them wherever you find them,” he added. “Remove this filth from your land and your sacred places. Fight and the angels fight with you.”
Hamas is backed by Iran and Mr. Deif supports the relationship.
He has not been seen publicly in years, and few photos of him are in the public domain. In January, the Israeli army published an image of a man it said was Mr. Deif; the picture showed him resting under a tree with a wad of cash in hand.
He is believed to be disabled, possibly missing an eye and limbs. Israel bombed his home in 2014, killing his wife and infant son.
In May, Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, requested an arrest warrant for Mr. Deif, accusing him and two other Hamas leaders of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Mr. Deif was born in 1965 to a poor Palestinian family and grew up in the Khan Younis refugee camp near Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, and Mohammed Dahlan, an exiled leader of the Fatah, another Palestinian faction that rivals Hamas.
“He’s a legendary figure in Hamas,” Ibrahim Madhoun, an analyst close to Hamas, said in an interview, comparing him to Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader and founder of Hamas. “His fingerprints are on the transformation of the Qassam Brigades from a limited number armed cells to a formal army that has tens of thousands of fighters.”
Mr. Deif has commanded the so-called Shadow Brigade, which guards Israeli captives held by Hamas, and invested significantly in manufacturing weapons and bringing new technologies to the Qassam Brigades such as reconnaissance drones, according to Mr. Madhoun.
Israeli analysts also recognize that Mr. Deif has changed Hamas’s military arm into a more powerful and organized fighting force.
Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli intelligence officer specializing in Palestinian affairs, described Mr. Deif as one of Hamas’s most important military strategists.
“He’s the beating heart of Hamas’s military wing,” he said, noting that Mr. Deif was at the helm of a force that has elite fighters, naval commandoes and air capabilities. “He has developed a force that almost has statehood capacities.”
