The Phantom of Gaza
This is the mastermind behind Hamas terror
October 9, 2023, 8:22 a.m
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With an audio message, Mohammed Deif announces Hamas’ attack on Israel. The top terrorist has long been at the top of the Israeli security forces’ hit list. But the leader of the Kassam Brigades keeps pulling his head out of the loop.
On Saturday morning, Hamas announced the major attack on Israel under the code name “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.” It has been decided to put an end to Israeli “crimes,” said the military chief of the militant Palestinian organization, Mohammed Deif, in an audio message played on television.
Deif is Israel’s most wanted man – and a phantom. The Israeli military and secret service are said to have tried to kill him at least seven times. He reportedly lost an eye, an arm and both legs in the killing attempts. In August 2014, Deif’s wife and two of his children were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip.
Deif has been the leader of the Qassam Brigades, an underground military organization that is considered the armed wing of Hamas, for years. He is said to be responsible for numerous attacks: According to the Israeli military, Deif not only planned attacks, but was also involved in building bombs himself. The army therefore gave him a nickname: “The Engineer”.
Under house arrest for several months
For his actions, Deif had been trained in the highest terrorist circles. Jahja Ajasch, who built almost a dozen bombs for attacks on Israel in the 1990s, taught Deif the craft. Ajasch was an electrical engineer and was familiar with the subject matter like no other. He was killed by Israeli intelligence in 1996. Shortly before, his pupil Deif had joined the Kassam Brigades.
Deif has been hunted by Israel ever since. When the peace process briefly got underway at the turn of the millennium, Israel demanded the arrest and extradition of the terrorist. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) agreed, arrested Deif and placed him under house arrest. But almost a year later, in April 2001, Deif was released. A year later, he took over leadership of the Kassam Brigades after then-commander Saleh Shahada was killed in an Israeli army bombardment. Now Deif was their new top destination.
Despite his prominence, there is hardly any information about Deif to this day. The Israeli authorities have published a single photo of him. It shows a young man with a narrow face and a mustache. When and where Deif was born, how he grew up and how he is doing – there are only rumors to this day.