Mohammed Deif

Mohammed Deif, born on August 12, 1965, in the Khan Yunis Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip, emerged as a prominent Palestinian militant and military leader. His family, having fled during the 1948 Palestine war, faced economic hardships that led Deif to temporarily leave school to support them. He later graduated with a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the Islamic University of Gaza in 1988, where he also founded a theater group.

Joining Hamas shortly after its establishment in 1987 during the First Intifada, Deif adopted the name 'Deif,' meaning 'guest' in Arabic, reflecting his nomadic lifestyle to evade Israeli targeting. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, he orchestrated numerous suicide bombings, including the notorious 1996 Jaffa Road bus bombings. In 2002, he ascended to the leadership of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, transforming the group into a formidable military force.

Deif was instrumental in developing strategies that combined rocket attacks with tunnel warfare, playing a key role in the planning of the October 7 attacks that ignited the Gaza war. His notoriety grew as he became one of Israel's most wanted individuals, having been targeted in multiple assassination attempts since 2001. Tragically, in 2014, an Israeli airstrike claimed the lives of his wife, infant son, and three-year-old daughter.

Despite being added to terrorism lists by the United States and the European Union in 2015 and 2023, respectively, Deif continued to lead until his death in an Israeli airstrike on July 13, 2024. For months, Hamas denied reports of his demise, only confirming it on January 30, 2025. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him in November 2024, which was later canceled in February 2025.