“The Ghost of al-Qassam”… How Does the Occupation View Muhammad Deif and When Was He Arrested?

The spotlight in Israel remains firmly on the commander-in-chief of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Muhammad Deif, who has been the target of numerous assassination attempts. The latest, according to Israeli claims, occurred in the “Mawasi” area of Khan Yunis, coinciding with a horrific massacre committed by the Israeli army against displaced persons last Saturday.

The Israeli army describes Muhammad Deif as a “ghost” due to his extreme secrecy and the limited information available about him, as reported by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth in a piece by Einav Halabi and Yoav Zitun.

The report, translated by Arabi21, mentions that “the mysterious military leader of Hamas and founder of its military wing has survived seven previous assassination attempts. Israeli army officials believe he may have finally been killed in the Khan Yunis attack.” It further states, “Military intelligence and the air force believe he was seriously injured, but there is no final confirmation of his death.”

The Arrest of Deif

The report highlights that Muhammad Deif was one of the first recruits of Hamas and was arrested by Israeli forces in 1989, spending 16 months in administrative detention for his involvement in the movement’s military activities. During his imprisonment, he worked on establishing the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.

The report explains that from the beginning, Deif prioritized “kidnapping Israeli soldiers,” coordinating the construction of attack tunnels for Hamas, and developing a strategy for launching rockets from the Gaza Strip.

“Over the years, Deif remained a wanted figure and rarely appeared in public, always under tight security measures and secret protocols (…), and even when moving between his offices, whether above or below ground, he used elevators and special stairs for people with disabilities that matched his impairment. Sometimes he used a wheelchair.”

The Yedioth report notes that in 2002, Deif survived a serious assassination attempt, in which he is believed to have lost one eye, a leg, and an arm. The latest assassination attempt was in 2014, when his wife and son were killed in an airstrike on a house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City.

It mentions that Deif directed Palestinian combat operations during the 2014 war. After the assassination attempt, Hamas responded with an unprecedented barrage of dozens of rockets targeting central and southern Israel in a relatively short period.

In December of last year, about two months after the war began, intelligence reports indicated that Deif was in better condition than previously believed. This was based on information obtained by the Israeli army during the fighting in Gaza, including a photo received by the security establishment, showing that he could walk on his legs and use his hands.

The report states that marks found by Israeli soldiers in his home and facilities in Gaza suggest that although Deif sometimes uses a wheelchair, he can walk independently at times, albeit with some physical impairment due to previous assassination attempts.

It notes that Deif remained active and even planned combat operations from his secret office, alongside senior Hamas officials who sent Qassam brigades to launch attacks against Israeli settlements on October 7.