Hamas has confirmed the death of military chief Mohammed Deif, believed to be one of the key architects of the October 7 attacks into southern Israel, in an Israeli strike in July last year.
Confirming Deif’s death, Spokesperson for Hamas’ military wing, Abu Obaida, described him as a “great martyr of the nation.”
Obaida repeatedly praised Deif during his announcement that the military Commander had indeed been killed. “This is befitting of our leader Mohammed Deif, who exhausted the enemy for more than 30 years,” he said.
“How, by God, could Mohammed Deif be mentioned in history without the title ‘martyr’, and without the medal of martyrdom?
“And how could Marwan Issa, the brain of the Qassam Brigades and its pillar, die in his bed?”
Abu Obaida
The Israeli military announced that it killed Deif in a strike that hit an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in Khan Younis, on July 13, 2024.
However, Hamas denied the news at the time, telling reporters that Deif was “well and directly overseeing” the group’s operations.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, the attack killed at least 90 Palestinians, including women and children.
Deif, Hamas’ Military Chief, is understood to be one of the key planners of the October 7 attacks.
He was one of the founders of Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, in the 1990s and led the force for more than two decades.
Deif was also believed to have developed the group’s network of tunnels and its bomb-making expertise.
In August 2014, Deif’s wife and seven-month-old son were killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted a house in Gaza where the family was staying.
According to reports, Deif lost an eye and sustained serious injuries in one leg in one of Israel’s assassination attempts.
His survival while running Hamas’s armed wing turned him into a folk hero among Palestinians.
On the morning of October 7, 2023, Hamas issued a rare voice recording of Deif announcing the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation, signalling the attacks that day on southern Israel were payback for Israeli raids at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site.
His death makes him one of the highest-ranking Hamas military officials to have been killed in Gaza in more than 15 months of fighting.
In May, the International Criminal Court said that it was seeking arrest warrants for Deif and other senior Hamas figures, saying they had “reasonable grounds” to believe they bore responsibility for the October 7 attacks, which saw around 1,200 Israelis killed.
Israel’s military response in Gaza has killed at least 47,460 Palestinians and injured another 111,580 people, according to the health ministry.
Deaths Of Four Other Hamas Military Leaders Confirmed
After confirming the death of military commander Mohammed Deif, Hamas’s Qassam Brigades spokesperson Abu Obaida added that Deputy Military Commander, Marwan Issa was also killed.
Additionally, Abu Obeida confirmed the killing of several other Hamas military commanders, including Ghazi Abu Tamaa, the Commander of weapons and combat services, Raed Thabet, Commander of manpower and head of supplies unit, and Rafei Salama, the Commander of the Khan Younis Brigade.
Later, Hamas released a statement saying that the assassination of its leaders will make the group stronger and more determined to “continue on the path of resistance.” It said, “Behind them are men who will continue their path, loyal to their approach, sacrifices and blood.”
It also called on mosques around the world to hold funerals in absentia for the slain Commanders on Friday, January 31, 2025.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine also hailed the slain Hamas Commander, Mohammed Deif, calling him a “great national leader.”
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