Dubai, October 11th
Israel has called last week’s devastating attack by Hamas a “9/11 moment.” The secret mastermind behind the attack, Palestinian extremist Mohammed Deif, calls it the Al-Aqsa Flood.
The phrase used by Israel’s most wanted man in an audio tape broadcast as Hamas fired thousands of rockets from the Gaza Strip on Saturday indicated that the attack was on Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque. It was suggested that the attack was in retaliation for the Israeli attack.
Sources close to Hamas say Deif launched the plan for the operation that killed 1,200 people and injured more than 2,700 in Israel, the attack on Islam’s third holiest site that has outraged the Arab and Muslim world. It was later in May 2021.
“It was triggered by scenes and footage of Israel storming Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan, beating and attacking worshipers and dragging elderly and young people from the mosque,” the Gaza source said. “All of this has fueled and ignited the anger.” The attack on the mosque compound has long been a flashpoint in violence over Jerusalem’s sovereignty and religious issues, and triggered 11 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas. It became.
More than two years later, Saturday’s attack marks the worst breakthrough in Israel’s defense since the 1973 Arab-Israeli conflict, prompting Israel to declare war and launch retaliatory airstrikes on Gaza that have killed 1,055 people and killed more than 5,000. was injured.
Israel also announced on Wednesday that it had killed at least 1,000 Palestinian gunmen who crossed in from Gaza.
Deif, a survivor of the seven most recent Israeli assassination attempts in 2021, rarely speaks and has never been seen in public.
So when Hamas’ television station announced that Hamas would speak on Saturday, Palestinians knew something big was afoot.
“Today, the anger of al-Aqsa, the anger of our people and our nation, is exploding. Mujahideen (fighters) of our country, today is the day to make this criminal understand that his time is over.” Deiff said in the recording.
There are only three images of Deif. One is of him in his 20s, one is of him wearing a mask, and the image of his shadow was used when the audio tape was broadcast.
Mr Deif’s whereabouts are unknown, but he is most likely in the labyrinth of tunnels beneath the Gaza enclave. Israeli security officials said Deif was directly involved in the planning and operational aspects of the attack.
According to Palestinian officials, one of the homes hit in the Gaza Strip by Israeli airstrikes belonged to Deif’s father. Officials said Deif’s younger brother and two other family members were killed.
Two brains, one mastermind
Sources close to Hamas say the decision to prepare for the attack was a joint one between Deif, who commands Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades, and Yehya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, but it is unclear who was behind the attack. It was obvious.
“There are two brains, but one mastermind,” the official said, adding that only a small number of Hamas leaders knew about the operation.
The secrecy was so strong that Iran, Israel’s archenemy and a key source of Hamas’s funding, training, and weapons, had no idea that the movement was planning a major operation. A local source familiar with the situation said he did not know the timing or details. says the group’s thoughts.
The official said the Iranian government was aware that a large-scale operation was being prepared, but that a joint operations room involving Hamas, the Palestinian leadership, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and Iran There was no discussion about that.
“It was a very tense situation,” the official said.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei said on Tuesday that Tehran was not involved in attacks on Israel. The U.S. government said that while Iran was complicit, it did not have any information or evidence to suggest that Iran directly participated in the attack.
Deiff’s plan involved a long period of deception. Israel was led to believe that Hamas, an ally of its mortal enemy Iran, had no interest in starting a conflict and was instead focused on the economic development of Gaza, where the movement was the governing power.
But while Israel has begun giving economic incentives to workers in the Gaza Strip, the group’s fighters often train and train under the noses of Israeli forces, officials close to Hamas said. .
“We have been preparing for this fight for two years,” said Ali Baraka, Hamas’s head of external relations.
Deif said in a calm voice that Hamas had repeatedly warned Israel to stop its crimes against Palestinians, release abused and tortured prisoners and stop expropriating Palestinian land.
“Every day, occupation forces raid our villages, towns, and cities in the West Bank, raiding our homes, killing, maiming, destroying, and detaining us. At the same time, they confiscate thousands of acres of land, They are pulling our people out of their homes and building.” The settlement comes while the criminal siege in Gaza continues. ‘In the shadow’
The West Bank is an area about 100 kilometers (60 miles) long and 50 kilometers wide that has been the epicenter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since it was occupied by Israel in 1967, and has been in turmoil for more than a year. in the process of.
Deif said Hamas called on the international community to stop its “crimes of occupation,” but Israel stepped up its provocations. He also said that Hamas had in the past asked Israel for a humanitarian agreement for the release of Palestinian prisoners, but this had been rejected.
“Given the orgy of occupation and its denial of international law and resolutions, and the support of the United States and the West and international silence, we have decided to put an end to all this,” he said.
Born Mohamed Masri in 1965 in the Khan Yunis refugee camp established after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the extremist leader joined Hamas during the first intifada, or Palestinian uprising, that began in 1987. He became known as Mohamed Deif.
According to Hamas officials, he was arrested by Israel in 1989 and held for about 16 months.
Deif earned a science degree from the Islamic University of Gaza, studying physics, chemistry and biology. He demonstrated an affinity for the arts, serving as chairman of the university’s entertainment committee and performing on the comedy stage.
Elevating the ranks of Hamas, Deif developed the group’s tunnel network and bomb-making expertise. He has been at the top of Israel’s most wanted list for decades and is personally responsible for killing dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings.
For Deif, staying in the shadows was a matter of life and death. Hamas officials said he lost an eye and suffered serious injuries to one of his legs in an Israeli assassination attempt.
His wife, 7-month-old son, and 3-year-old daughter were killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2014.
His survival while running the Hamas militia earned him the status of a Palestinian folk hero. In the video, he is masked or only his shadow is seen. Sources close to Hamas say he does not use modern digital technology such as smartphones.
“He’s elusive. He’s a shadow man.”
