Israeli Defense Forces say one of masterminds of 7 October attack was ‘struck’ in Gaza strike targeting him
Mohammed Deif is the head of the military wing of Hamas and one of the masterminds of the group’s bloody surprise attack on 7 October which triggered the latest war in Gaza.
Israeli officials said Deif – whose real name is Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri – was the target of Saturday’s airstrike, which levelled several buildings in Khan Younis and killed 90 people, according to local health authorities.
Experienced, capable and utterly committed to the militant Islamist organisation, Deif has survived at least seven Israeli assassination attempts. The question is whether the 58-year-old has survived an eighth. If Israel has killed such a significant figure, this will be chalked up as a major step towards an increasingly elusive victory.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have so far only said the attack was based on “precise intelligence” and “struck” Deif but not that he is dead.
Deif means “the guest” in Arabic, a nom de guerre he owes to his effort to evade Israeli assassination attempts by moving location almost every night and staying in the homes of supporters of Hamas.
He was born in 1965 in a refugee camp in Khan Younis, the southern Gaza City, one of dozens set up to house some of those Palestinians forced to flee their homes in the wars surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948.
