How Hamas commander Mohammed Deif planned Israel attack

For Mohammed Deif launching Al Aqsa Flood- Hamas’ ‘surprise’ deadly attack on Israel- was a plan he worked on since 2021. For Israel it was its 9/11 moment but for Hamas that fired thousands of rockets out of the Gaza strip, it was always in the offing.

In May 2021, after a raid on Islam’s third holiest site, Mohammed Deif began planning the operation that has killed 1,200 people in Israel and wounded more than 2,700.

“It was triggered by scenes and footage of Israel storming Al Aqsa mosque during Ramadan, beating worshippers, attacking them, dragging elderly and young men out of the mosque,” a source in Gaza told news agency Reuters.

Who is Mohammed Deif?

Born as Mohammad Masri in 1965, the militant leader became known as Mohammed Deif after joining Hamas during the first Intifada which began in 1987. He was arrested by Israel in 1989 and spent about 16 months in detention.

Mohammed Deif earned a degree in science from the Islamic University in Gaza, where he studied physics, chemistry and biology. Rising up the Hamas ranks, Mohammed Deif developed the group’s network of tunnels and its bomb-making expertise. His wife, 7-month-old son, and 3-year-old daughter were killed by an Israeli air strike in 2014.

Mohammed Deif is a survivor of seven Israeli assassination attempts, the most recent in 2021. He rarely speaks and never appears in public. When Hamas’ TV channel announced that he was about to speak on Saturday, Palestinians knew something significant was about to happen.

“Today the rage of Al Aqsa, the rage of our people and nation is exploding. Our mujahedeen (fighters), today is your day to make this criminal understand that his time has ended,” Mohammed Deif said in the recording. There are only three images of Mohammed Deif- one in his 20s, another of him masked, and an image of his shadow.

The whereabouts of Mohammed Deif are unknown but an Israeli security source told Reuters that he was directly involved in the planning and operational aspects of the attack.

One of the homes Israeli airstrikes hit in Gaza belonged to Mohammed Deif’s father. Mohammed Deif’s brother and two other family members were killed, it was reported.

How was the attack planned by Mohammed Deif?

The decision to prepare the attack was taken jointly by Mohammed Deif, who commands Hamas’s Al Qassam brigades, along with Yehya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza.

“There are two brains, but there is one mastermind,” Reuters reported quoting an unnamed source who added that the information about the operation was known only to a handful of Hamas leaders.

Iran was aware a major operation was being prepared but it was not discussed in any joint operation rooms involving Hamas, the Palestinian leadership, Iranian-backed Lebanese militants Hezbollah, and Iran, the report added.

“It was a very tight circle,” the source told the news agency.

The plan as conceived by Mohammed Deif and involved a prolonged effort at deception. “We have prepared for this battle for two years,” said Ali Baraka, the head of external relations for Hamas.

Mohammed Deif said in his recording that Hamas had repeatedly warned Israel to stop its crimes against Palestinians and to release prisoners.

“Every day the occupation storm our villages, towns and cities in the West Bank and raid houses, kill, injure, destroy and detain. At the same time, it confiscates thousands of acres of our land, uproots our people from their houses to build settlements while its criminal siege continues on Gaza,” he said.

Mohammed Deif said Hamas had urged the international community to put an end to the “crimes of the occupation”, but Israel had stepped up its provocation.

“In light of the orgy of occupation and its denial of international laws and resolutions, and in light of American and western support and international silence, we’ve decided to put an end to all this,” he said.