TEL AVIV: Although the Israeli military has killed some top leaders of Gaza, it is yet to lay its hands on Mohammed Deif, the militant who masterminded the Hamas attacks.
Hamas’s Al Qassam Brigade chief Deif was the first leader of the militant outfit to broadcast an audio message announcing the launch of the attack on Saturday, which was accompanied by a barrage of rocket fire from Gaza. “Today the rage of Al-Aqsa (mosque), the rage of our people and nation is exploding. Our mujahideen (fighters), today is your day to make this criminal understand that his time has ended,” he had proclaimed in the recording.
Deif’s wife, infant son, and three-year-old daughter were killed in an Israeli bombing of Gaza in 2014. This time, he has lost his brother and two other family members in the bombardment. He spent 16 months in Israeli detention after being arrested in 1989 when he was 24 years old. Reports state that Deif began planning the assault after he was disturbed by the May 2021 raids on the Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest site after Mecca and Medina. The Israelis also say Deif was directly involved in the planning and operational aspects of the attack. His chief accomplice was believed to be Hamas’ Gaza leader Yehya Sinwar.
Having survived over half-dozen assassination attempts, Deif, unlike several top Hamas leaders, is camera shy and is known to have turned down interview requests. In fact, the Israeli intelligence agencies have only three photos of Deif, all of them grainy or too old. In the broadcast too, Deif did not appear in person and instead his photo in shadows was used. Believed to have lost an eye in an abortive Israeli assassination attempt earlier, he has a degree in science subjects from the University of Gaza.
Meanwhile, Iranian supremo Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has denied Tehran’s involvement in the attack. The US, however, says Tehran is complicit but may not have known the magnitude of the operation.