Mohammed Deif: The man behind Israel’s 9/11 moment and how he outfoxed even Iran

Mohammed Deif, the ‘enemy no. 1’ and ‘most wanted man’ of Israel, who has survived seven assassination attempts, is considered the mastermind behind the early-morning multi-front attack – from the air, the land and the sea – on Saturday (October 7) that shook Israel as a barrage of 5000 rockets hit the country as far as Tel Aviv, killing more than 1,200. The Hamas leader carefully chose Simchat Torah, a Jewish holiday for the attack.

The origin of one of the deadliest foes of Israel goes as far back as 1987, when the first Intifada, or Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank, began. He was born as Mohammad Masri in 1965 in a refugee camp set up after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Masri joined Hamas to wage a war against the Israeli occupation of Gaza.

A man twice-born

Interestingly, the young Masri had nothing to do with guns and gore he has become synonymous with. He studied science at the Islamic University in Gaza and showed interest in the arts, even headed the entertainment committee of the university’s and performed on stage in comedies, according to a Reuters report.

Two years after he joined the first Intifada, the man now known as Mohammed Deif was arrested by Israel in 1989. After his release from detention 16 months later, Deif rose in Hamas ranks and graduated to command Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, a militia of Sunni Muslims, that governs the Gaza Strip.

His significance as a formidable foe of the Zionist state lies in the fact that Israel, which holds him personally responsible for killing scores of Israeli citizens, has made seven assassination attempts on Deif, the latest one being in 2021. In one such attempt, the Hamas leader sustained serious injuries in one of his legs and lost an eye. In 2014, the Israeli Armed Forces killed his wife and two children, including his 7-month-old son, in an airstrike on Gaza.

He prefers to keep a low profile while living as secretively as possible in the Gaza Strip, which was occupied by Israel in 2007, planning and executing attacks on the occupier country.

Avenging the Al Aqsa raid

The roots of the Saturday attack on Israel lie in the Al Aqsa mosque attack.

In May 2021, during the Holy month of Ramadan, the Israeli Defence Forces stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the third holiest place for Muslims after Mecca and Medina. Ironically, it is also sacred to Jews as the Temple Mount, which has emerged as the flashpoint between them. This led to clashes with the Israeli Defence Forces, in which hundreds of devotees, including women, were injured. It also set off an 11-day war between Hamas and Israel.

The attack led to an outrage across the Arab and Muslim world, after which Deif began to plan a revenge attack on Israel which materialised two years later on the Jewish holiday. One of the Hamas attack sites was the Supernova music festival where the Hamas militants killed more than 260 people.

“It was triggered by scenes and footage of Israel storming Al Aqsa mosque during Ramadan, beating worshippers, attacking them, dragging elderly and young men out of the mosque. All this fuelled and ignited the anger,” Reuters quoted a source in Hamas as saying.

Deif, In a recorded message on Hamas TV, referred to Al Aqsa and warned of an impending attack, “Today the rage of Al Aqsa, the rage of our people and nation, is exploding. Our mujahedeen (fighters), today is your day to make this criminal understand that his time has ended.”

According to Reuters, the decision to plan the attack was taken jointly by Deif and Yehya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza.

Deif called the attack ‘Al Aqsa Flood’.

Cloaked in complete secrecy

The attack was planned and executed in utmost secrecy that even Iran, a sworn enemy of Israel, which is known for its open support to Hamas in terms of financing the Intifada, training its fighters and supplying arms and ammunition, could not get a whiff of the proceedings.

“We have prepared for this battle for two years,” Reuters quoted Ali Baraka, the head of external relations for Hamas, as saying.

Deif and his comrades in arms outfoxed Israelis, who believed Hamas would not attack as it was more focussed on administering the Gaza Strip. So, nobody took his words seriously when he said in his televised message, “Every day the occupiers storm our villages, towns and cities in the West Bank and raid houses, kill, injure, destroy and detain. At the same time, it confiscates thousands of acres of our land, uproots our people from their houses to build settlements while its criminal siege continues on Gaza.”