Who is Mohammed Deif, the Hamas military chief Israel claimed to have killed in Gaza in July?

The Israeli military on Thursday announced that they had killed Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif in the southern Gaza area of Khan Younis through a strike on July 13. Deif, 58, was considered the mastermind of the October 7 attack by Hamas, which triggered the killing of 39,445 people in Palestine including more than 15,000 children and the injuring `of more than 91,073 people by Israel as of July 31, according to Al Jazeera.

In 2002, Deif took charge of the Qassam Brigades after Israel assassinated his predecessor and founding leader Salah Shehadeh. (IDF)

While Israel claims that it has evidence of Deif’s death, an official told news agency AFP that Deif is well and overseeing the operations of Hamas, reported Al Jazeera.

Who is Mohammed Deif?

Born in 1965, in one of the refugee camps in Khan Younis, Deif was originally named Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri. Despite being born into a poor family in one of the few refugee camps built by Israel after 1948, Deif was able to attain a degree in science from the Islamic University in Gaza, where he studied physics, chemistry and biology. Deif also headed the university and performed comedies on stage.

In 1987, Deif joined Hamas when it was founded and fought in the first intifada or the Palestinian uprising which began in 1987 and ended in 1993 with the signing of the Oslo Accords. In 1989, during the peak of the intifada, Deif was detained by Israel for 16 months.

In 2002, Deif took charge of the Qassam Brigades after Israel assassinated his predecessor and founding leader Salah Shehadeh. It is Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing which carried out attacks inside Israel on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people and taking up about 200 people captive, according to Al Jazeera.

According to the Guardian, Deif had survived at least seven Israeli assassination attempts and if Israel’s claims are true he surrendered to death in the eighth attempt. However, Hamas sources said Deif lost an eye and sustained serious injuries in one leg in one of Israel’s attempts to kill him, reported news agency Reuters.

Experienced, capable and utterly committed to the militant Islamist organisation, Deif in the recent years was overseeing Hamas’ efforts to build more effective rockets in Gaza and the immense tunnel complex across the territory and is also rumoured to have been tasked with training militants, especially the Nukhba forces which attacked Israel in 2023.

His wife, 7-month-old son, and 3-year-old daughter were killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2014, reported Reuters.

Attack on October 7

Hamas’s attack on October 7 was a result of planning by the three-man military council which planned the attack as revenge for the Israeli raid of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Deif with Hamas’ leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar and his deputy Marwan Issa, who was killed in March 2024, planned the attack on Israel after it raided Islam’s third holiest site, the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

There are only three available images of Deif. One of them is of his shadow which was broadcast on the Hamas TV channel during which he said, “Today the rage of Al-Aqsa, the rage of our people and nation is exploding. Our mujahedeen (fighters), today is your day to make this criminal understand that his time has ended,” reported Reuters.

A source close to Hamas, told Reuters that the decision to prepare the October 7 attack was jointly taken by Deif, the leader of Qassam Brigades, and Sinwar, however, it was clear that Deif was the architect.

In 2024, the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor requested warrants for Deif, Sinwar and another Hamas figure over the October 7 attack. However, warrants were also issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over Israel’s response which has resulted in the ongoing genocide, reported Al Jazeera.

(With inputs from news agencies)