Hamas confirms military chief Mohammed Deif's death after months of silence

After months of silence, Hamas has finally confirmed the death of its military wing leader Mohammed Deif. The confirmation came from the Palestinian militant group months after the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed that it had killed Deif back in July this year. Israel maintained that Deif was one of the figures who was responsible for the planning of the devastating October 7 attack in Southern Israel, which led to the death of 1,200 people with 251 being held hostage.

It is pertinent to note that Deif was widely known as the second-highest-ranking Hamas official in Gaza, behind Yahya Sinwar, the group’s leader in the territory. However, Sinwar was also killed by the Israeli forces last year. While confirming the news on Thursday, the spokesperson for the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said his death was “befitting," Al Jazeera reported.

“This is befitting of our leader Mohammed Deif, who exhausted the enemy for more than 30 years,” Abu Obeida said.  “How, by God, could Mohammed Deif be mentioned in history without the title ‘martyr’ and without the medal of martyrdom?” he asked. Deif was one of the founders of the Qassam Brigades which was formed in 1990 and led the military wing of the Palestinian group for two decades.

The man behind the tunnels in Gaza

According to Al Jazeera, Deif was believed to be one of the main developers of Hamas’ vast network of tunnels across Gaza. Not only this, he was also lauded for his lethal “bomb-making expertise”. On the morning of the October 7 attack, Hamas issued a voice recording in which Deif was heard announcing the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation.

Many believe that through his message, Deif signalled that the October 7 attack was in retaliation to Israeli raids at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site. In November last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Deif “for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes."

Other than Deif, the International court also issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged “crimes against humanity and war crimes” over Israel’s conduct of its war in Gaza. In the Thursday statement, Hamas also announced the death of deputy military commander Marwan Issa. The deputy commander’s death was announced by the United States in March last year.

Issa was considered Israel’s most-wanted man. The European Union, which placed the Hamas leader on its terrorist blacklist, linked him directly to the 7 October attack.

With inputs from agencies.