Mohammed Deif

Mohammed Deif
Mohammed Deif
محمد الضيف
Personal details
Born	Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri; 1965 (age 58–59) Preview warning: Page using Template:Birth year and age with unknown parameter "df"; Khan Yunis refugee camp, Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip
Political party	Hamas
Spouse(s)	1st wife; 2nd wife: Widad Asfoura (m. 2007; died 2014)
Relations	before 1948 his family lived in Al-Qubayba (Arabic: القبيبة).
Children	2 children killed in 2014: Sarah (age 3 years); Ali (age 7 months); 4 other children: Hala, Omar, Bahaa, and Khaled.
Alma mater	Islamic University of Gaza
Nickname	Abu Khaled (kunya) The mastermind (Palestinian nickname) The cat with nine lives (Israeli nickname)
Military service
Allegiance	Hamas and Palestine
Years of service	1987–present
Rank	Chief of Staff (2002–present)
Commands	Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades Chief of Staff.
Battles/wars	First Intifada; Second Intifada; Gaza–Israel conflict 2012 Gaza War; 2014 Gaza War; 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis; Israel–Hamas war 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel; Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip; ; ;

Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri (Arabic: محمد دياب ابراهيم المصري; born 1965), known as Mohammed Deif (Arabic: محمد الضيف), is a Palestinian militant and the head of the Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamist organization Hamas.

Mohammed al-Masri was born in 1965 in the Khan Yunis Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip, to a family that had been expelled by Zionist militias during the 1948 Palestine war.^[4] He reportedly left school temporarily to support his low-income family, later graduating with a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the Islamic University of Gaza in 1988, where he had established a theatre group.^[5]

Masri joined Hamas in 1987, weeks after it was established during the First Intifada against the Israeli occupation, and later became known as Mohammed Deif, meaning 'guest' in Arabic, possibly in reference to the nomadic lifestyle he adopted to avoid being targeted. During the 1990s and early 2000s, he planned several suicide bombing attacks, including the 1996 Jaffa Road bus bombings. He became the head of the al-Qassam Brigades in 2002, and has since developed the group's capabilities, transforming it from a cluster of amateur cells to organized military units. He has masterminded the group's strategy of combining rocket attacks on Israel with tunnel warfare, and was central to planning the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel that initiated the Israel–Hamas war.

Deif has been the Israeli military's 'most wanted' man since 1995 for killing Israeli soldiers and civilians. He was detained by the Palestinian Authority at Israel's request in 2000 before escaping months later. He was targeted in eight Israeli assassination attempts since 2001, the most recent of which came during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, having survived at least seven of them. His wife, infant son, and 3-year-old daughter were killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2014. The United States and the European Union have added Deif to their terrorism lists in 2015 and 2023 respectively. In May 2024, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) applied for arrest warrants for Deif and several other Hamas and Israeli leaders for their war conduct.^[6]

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^ محمد الضيف.. فنان يقود كتائب القسام [Muhammad Al-Deif...an artist who leads the Al-Qassam Brigades]. Palestine Encyclopedia (in Arabic). Al Jazeera Arabic. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
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[AJ_PE_-_Deif-2] محمد الضيف.. فنان يقود كتائب القسام [Muhammad Al-Deif...an artist who leads the Al-Qassam Brigades]. Palestine Encyclopedia (in Arabic). Al Jazeera Arabic. Retrieved 14 June 2024.

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