Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades officially mourns Chief of Staff Mohamed Deif: Abu Obeida - War on Gaza
In a video statement, Abu Obeida also mourned several other members of Qsaam's Military Council who were also killed during battles against the Israeli army.
أبو عبيدة: نزف إلى أبناء شعبنا العظيم استشهاد قائد هيئة أركان كتائب القسام محمد #الضيف#حرب_غزة #الأخبار pic.twitter.com/Qw3aEp1Phq — قناة الجزيرة (@AJArabic) January 30, 2025
"The Al-Qassam Brigades announce to our great people the martyrdom of a group of distinguished fighters and heroic commanders," Abu Obeida announced in a video statement.
Israel had previously claimed to have killed Deif and confirmed his death in early August. However, Hamas consistently denied these reports until Thursday's announcement.
Israel had accused Deif of being one of the key architects of the group's 7 October offensive, along with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed on 16 October 2024.
آخر ظهور للقائد العام لكتائب القسام محمد الضيف في مشاهد حصرية بثها برنامج #ما_خفي_أعظم على #الجزيرة، وهو يضع اللمسات الأخيرة على التحضيرات لهجوم السابع من أكتوبر، من داخل غرفة عمليات كتائب القسام#حرب_غزة pic.twitter.com/8lu8SsUW5W — قناة الجزيرة (@AJArabic) January 30, 2025
Deif, known as 'the cat with nine lives' for surviving seven failed Israeli assassination attempts, was born in 1965 to a Palestinian refugee family from al-Qubeiba. He joined Hamas in 1987, just weeks after its formation during the First Intifada. He was arrested by Israeli forces in 1989 and imprisoned for 16 months without trial.
Deif, a top target on Israel's wanted list, appeared in only three known photographs: one from years ago, another with his face masked, and a third showing only his silhouette. Despite Israel's extensive intelligence operations, no recent image of him was ever obtained.
After being released in a prisoner exchange, Deif went on to establish the Al-Qassam Brigades in the 1990s and oversaw numerous operations against Israel.
Known as "the mastermind," he is believed to have organized the 2006 raid into Israel that killed two Israeli soldiers and captured Gilad Shalit. Hamas held Shalit captive for over five years until his release on 18 October 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange deal.
Deif also orchestrated the five-year effort to deceive Israeli intelligence services, Mossad and Shin Bet, about Shalit's location in Gaza.
Although he had close ties with the Palestinian Authority, he was briefly arrested by them in 2000, reportedly as part of an agreement with Israel, only to be released or escape from prison later that year.
Deif took full command of Hamas in 2002 after the assassination of Al-Qassam's commander-in-chief, Salah Shehadeh. However, for several years, the effective command was exercised by Deif's deputy, Ahmed Jabari, after Deif was severely wounded in an Israeli assassination attempt.
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