Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel was ordered by Mohammed Deif, the shadowy leader of the terrorist group's armed wing, who had been planning it for the past two years, the UK-based Arabic-language news outlet Asharq al-Awsat recently reported.
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According to the outlet’s source, the decision was made jointly by Deif and Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar. Deif is considered a top priority on Israel's most wanted terrorist list.
Deif, the founder and leader of Hamas’ military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, has survived at least five assassination attempts in which he lost an eye, a leg and a hand. He earned his nickname, Deif (guest in Arabic), due to his habit of changing locations daily, fearing he would become a target of an Israeli assassination.
Deif, who was previously incarcerated in Israel and managed to escape at the beginning of the Second Intifada, is regarded as the mastermind behind the construction of Hamas’s labyrinthine underground tunnel system in Gaza. He is also believed to be responsible for the death of 50 Israelis in a series of terror attacks carried out in retaliation for the 1996 assassination of key Hamas figure Yahya Ayyash.
Deif's wife and two of his children were killed in an attempt on his life during 2014's Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip. The home of Deif's father was bombed by the IDF during the current conflict. Deif's brother, Abd al-Fattah Diab, was reportedly killed in the strike, along with his son and granddaughter while other family members were buried under the rubble.
In addition to Deif, several other Hamas commanders are targeted in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre in southern Israel.
Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ leader in the Gaza Strip and one of the founders of the organization's military wing, is also located high on Israel's most-wanted list. In 2017, Sinwar replaced Ismail Haniyeh as the leader of Hamas in Gaza and is believed to have been one of several senior Hamas figures to order the attack against Israel.
Israel believes Sinwar, like Deif, is hiding in Hamas's subterranean tunnel system in the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian reports, the IDF struck the apartment of his brother, Hamed Sinwar, in Gaza, resulting in several casualties.
Sinwar was sentenced to four life imprisonment terms in Israeli prison but was released in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas for the return of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. In September 2015, he was included on the United States' global terrorist blacklist.
Marwan Issa, who’s also believed to be hiding underground in Gaza, is another prominent IDF target. Issa serves as the deputy chief of Hamas's military wing and is considered to be Deif’s right-hand man. Israel has also attempted to assassinate Issa in the past and managed to narrowly escape an attempt on his life during a meeting with Deif and other top Qassam Brigades commanders in 2006.
His home was bombed in 2014 and again in 2021; one of the strikes resulted in his brother's death. Israel says that as long as Issa is alive, the psychological war against Hamas will not stop.
Three other senior members of Hamas are away from the Gaza Strip. Saleh al-Arouri currently resides in Beirut. Al-Arouri is a founding member of Hamas and is in charge of the military wing's activities in the West Bank. Al-Arouri served around 15 years in Israeli prisons before being deported.
He was part of the prisoner exchange negotiation team for the release of Shalit, and in 2014, he planned the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers carried out by the terrorist organization. Recently, the IDF took control of his abandoned house near Ramallah and turned it into a Shin Bet base.
Khaled Mashal, who led Hamas's politburo for 21 years and now oversees the organization's international activities, frequently moves between Turkey and Qatar. In 1997, Israel's Mossad intelligence agency carried out a failed assassination attempt against Mashaal in Jordan.
Ismail Haniyeh, who succeeded Mashaal as the leader of Hamas's politburo in 2017, also moves intermittently between Turkey and Qatar and is sought by Israel.