FALCON POWERS – Mohammed Al-Deif, the covert military commander of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and one of the architects of the attack that Israel describes as an Israeli version of the 9/11 attacks on the United States, rarely speaks publicly. He has managed to evade seven previous Israeli assassination attempts, aided by the fact that he never appears in public. He is now being sought outside of Gaza, from where he directed the surprise attack on October 7th, which Israel says killed 1,200 people and plunged the right-wing government into crisis, with more than 250 hostages being held.
On Monday, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said it had requested arrest warrants for the Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister, as well as three Hamas leaders, including Al-Deif.
Israel denies committing war crimes in Gaza. Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, told Reuters that the ICC’s decision to request arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders was “equating the victim with the executioner.”
Now, a panel of pre-trial judges faces the task of determining whether there is sufficient evidence to issue the arrest warrants.
According to a source close to Hamas, the guest (referring to the attacker) began planning the operation after a raid on the third holiest mosque in Islam in May 2021, which sparked outrage in the Arab and Islamic world.
The source said the attack was triggered by the footage showing the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan, the beating of worshippers, and the dragging of elders and youths out of the mosque. This sparked the outrage.
The raid on the mosque’s compound led to 11 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
There are only three known images of the guest – one of him in his 20s, another with him masked, and a third of his shadow, which was used when the recording was broadcast.
Given his reclusive nature and lack of public appearances, when Al-Aqsa TV, affiliated with Hamas, announced that he would deliver a speech on October 7th, the Palestinians realized the gravity of the situation.
In the audio recording, the guest said: “O free people of the world, today the outrage of Al-Aqsa, our people, our nation, and the free people of the world is exploding… Our righteous mujahideen, this is your day to make the criminal enemy understand that his time has ended.”
One mastermind
The Hamas-affiliated source said the decision to prepare for the attack was made jointly between the guest, the commander of the Qassam Brigades, and the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Al-Sinwar. However, it was clear who the architect of the attack was.
The source added, “There are two minds, but the mastermind is one,” noting that information about the operation was known only to a few Hamas leaders.
An Israeli security source said the guest directly participated in the planning and operational aspects of the attack.
The plan, as envisioned by the guest, involved extensive deception. Hamas, allied with Iran, was made to appear indifferent to igniting a conflict and focused on economic development in Gaza under its control.
While Israel began providing economic incentives to workers from Gaza, the movement’s fighters were often trained and prepared under the watchful eye of the Israeli army, according to a source close to Hamas.
The guest spoke in a calm voice in his recording, saying that Hamas has repeatedly warned Israel, demanding that it stop its crimes against the Palestinians, release the prisoners who he said were subjected to harm and torture, and also stop the confiscation of Palestinian lands.
He added, “In the midst of the ongoing crimes against our people and in the face of the recklessness of the occupation and its denial of international laws and resolutions, and in the face of American and Western support and international silence, we have decided to put an end to all of this.”
The guest, whose real name is Mohammed al-Deif, was born in 1965 in the Khan Yunis refugee camp, which was established after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. He became known as Mohammed al-Deif after joining Hamas during the First Intifada, or the Palestinian Uprising, which began in 1987.
reuters
