The name Muhammad Deif, commander of Hamas' military-terrorist wing, is familiar in almost every home in Israel and apparently in the Arab world as well. Among his people he may be considered a hero, a living legend, a ghost or the man guarded by Allah, but in Israel he is known as a murderer and bitter enemy of the Jewish people who carried out a large number of serious attacks.
Documentation of the activities of the combat team of the 401st Brigade and the forces of Shayetet 13 in Gaza // IDF Spokesperson
So how did Mohammed Deif become such a great rival of the State of Israel?
He was born in 1965 in Khan Yunis and already in his youth showed a penchant for radical Islam and joined the Muslim Brotherhood, which holds a strong Islamic ideology and holds strong anti-Semitic positions inspired by its founder Hassan al-Banna. Later, while a student at the Islamic University in the Gaza Strip, he was active in the Islamic Bloc and was the list's representative on the student council. During the first intifada he joined Hamas and became a disciple of terrorist rabbi Yahya Ayash ("the engineer"). In 1993 he became commander of Hamas' military-terrorist wing in the Gaza Strip. He was one of the planners of the organization's missile system against Israel and planned a series of murderous attacks in revenge for Ayash's assassination, in which 58 Israelis were murdered.
The advance of most of the terrorists within Hamas continued over the years due to the constant assassination carried out by the IDF against senior members of the organization. However, his elimination was unsuccessful. The IDF carried out seven attempts to assassinate him and is currently the organization's most senior wanted man, alongside Yahya Siwanar.
Mohammed Deif in his youth, photo: None
Deif himself referred to Israel's failure to eliminate him, saying, "Allah wanted to anger the Jews and He saved me. In any case, I believe that only what Allah wants is what will happen." "I promise that we will continue until victory or death as martyrs, we will continue on the path of Yahya Ayash and Salah Shehadeh, and as we learned from Sheikh Yassin."
After many assassination attempts, it was thought in Israel that Deif had lost sight in one of his eyes, had difficulty speaking and moving his hands, and even used a wheelchair. It was believed that he had been eliminated, but new intelligence revealed that, contrary to estimates, he could walk. All the attacks did not prevent Adef from leading and leading Hamas' military-terrorist wing in a series of activities against Israel. The most recent was the attack on October 7.
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us