Who is the military chief of Hamas?

The Israeli army confirmed on Saturday that it had carried out an airstrike against Mohammad Deif. Deif is the leader of the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, and his name has been at the top of Israel’s wanted terrorist list for many years. He is also considered the mastermind behind the October 7 Hamas massacre. In addition to Deif, the commander of Hamas’ so-called Khan Younis Brigade and many other Hamas fighters were reportedly present at the scene of the attack. However, it is still impossible to confirm whether Deif was actually killed or injured, or whether he was at the scene at all.

Hamas called the reports false in a statement, speaking of a “massacre.” The attack killed at least 71 people and injured 289, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry. The information could not be independently verified.

The attack apparently took place in an area of ​​the coast that Israel has designated as a “humanitarian zone.” A large portion of Gaza’s population now lives in this completely overcrowded area. However, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), it was not a tent camp that was hit, but a fenced-off Hamas complex. The IDF released before-and-after photos of the scene taken from the air. Some buildings surrounded by trees can be seen. Images taken after the attack show a large crater with hundreds of people gathered nearby.

The aerial photos can be assigned to an area west of the city of Khan Yunis. This seems to match Palestinian reports that the attack took place near the Al-Nus roundabout. This is only a few hundred meters away.

Israel has been hunting Deif for two decades

If Israel does kill Mohammad Deif, it would be a setback for the terror group. Israel has allegedly tried to assassinate the leader of the Qassam Brigades seven times over the past two decades. He has been seriously wounded multiple times, losing an eye in 2002 and possibly both legs in 2006. In an airstrike during the 2014 war, the army reduced a house to rubble and killed his wife and two children. Also during the last Gaza war in May 2021 Israel launched two attacks It is said to be the hideout of Hamas leaders. But Deif always survives.

It was long believed that De If was confined to a wheelchair and disfigured as a result of the attack. However, in late 2023, new photos of De If emerged showing a vibrant man sitting in his garden, although he appeared to have lost an eye.

Israel has been keeping an eye on him for two decades, and for good reason. The Hamas military chief is believed to be a co-sponsor of the suicide attack strategy in the 1990s and a promoter of the terror group’s rocket arsenal. The construction of Gaza’s extensive system of tunnels beneath the surface is also said to be traced back to Deif.

Deif was born Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri in a refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip in 1965. He was in his 20s when Hamas was founded in Gaza by the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood during the first intifada in December 1987. He is said to have joined Hamas in 1990. His own code name was Deif, which means “guest” in Arabic, possibly referring to the shelter he found with different families in the underground.

Deif is said to have communicated only verbally or through paper messages to avoid being intercepted by the Secret Service and learning his location. With this, he managed to evade multiple Israeli airstrikes. He was able to plan the most complex terrorist attack in Israeli history by October 7, 2023 without the Secret Service being informed of it.

What impact will it have on ceasefire negotiations?

It is not clear to what extent the death of Mohammad Deif after nine months of war will affect Hamas. The organization is severely weakened and its military command structure is likely to be seriously affected. Therefore, Deif’s death is mainly a symbolic success for Israel, but will not have fatal consequences for the Qassam Brigades or Hamas as a whole.

It is unclear how Saturday’s attack will affect ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages. Recently, both Doha and Cairo have sounded optimistic voices that a deal is possible. On Saturday, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry announced that “serious complications” could now arise.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to make a public statement. On Saturday afternoon, his office said he had spoken by phone with military officials and would hold another meeting later in the day to discuss how to proceed.