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Mohammed Deif (محمّد الضيف), born Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri (محمّد دياب إبراهيم المصري), is a Palestinian militant who is currently the Supreme Military Commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamist organization Hamas.

Deif has been on top of Israel's 'most wanted' list since 1995 for allegedly killing IDF soldiers and planning suicide bombings and kidnappings, and was added to the American list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists in 2015. He has survived nine Israeli assassination attempts, the most recent of which came during the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis in May 2021.

Early life
Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri was born in 1965 in the Khan Younis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip. Although not much is known about the details of his early life and upbringing, it is understood that he studied science the Islamic University of Gaza, from which he graduated with a Bachelor's degree in 1988.

During his years at the university, he had a passion for theatre, establishing a theatre group called "The Returners", in reference to Palestinian refugees longing to return to the lands they lived on before to the Nakba.

Al-Qassam Brigades
Deif joined Hamas shortly after its establishment during the First Intifada, and was arrested by Israeli authorities in 1989 or 1990 for his involvement with the organization. After 16 months of detention, he was released, only to help establish the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, soon after.

Deif was close to Emad Akel and Yahya Ayyash, who were assassinated by Israel in 1993 and 1996 respectively. After the latter's assassination, he started to lower his profile, going off the radar to avoid being targeted. During the 1990s, he was behind the kidnappings and later killings of Israeli soldiers Shahar Simani, Aryeh Frankenthal and Nachshon Wachsman.

In May 2000, Deif was arrested by the Palestinian National Authority, but escaped in December with assistance from some of his guards.

Leader of the al-Qassam Brigades
Deif became the supreme military commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades after Israel assassinated Salah Shehade in July 2002. In February 2006, some Israeli media argued that Deif would build an Al Qaeda network in the Gaza Strip since he did not support the approach of Hamas. This claim, however, was denied by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

Assassination attempts
He has survived five Israeli air strikes, which caused him serious injuries and handicaps. Despite initial reports of his death in an Israeli air strike on 27 September 2002, an Israeli intelligence official confirmed that he survived the attack. His senior assistant, Adnan al-Ghoul, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on 21 October 2004.

In the early morning hours of 12 July 2006, an Israeli F16 aircraft bombed a house in which high-level ranking Hamas leaders were meeting. Deif survived the blast, but severely injured his spine. After this event, Ahmed Jabari became the acting commander of Hamas military wing Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

On 19 August 2014, the Israeli air force conducted an airstrike on a house in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Radwan in Gaza City that killed one of Deif's wives (27-year-old Widad), and two of his children (7-month-old son Ali, and 3-year-old daughter Sara), and also three civilians. Hamas denied that Deif was killed.

In April 2015, it was reported in Israeli media citing intelligence sources that Deif survived the assassination attempt.

During Operation Guardian of the Walls in May 2021, it was reported that Israel military had tried to kill Deif twice in one week but that he got away at the last minute both times.