Secrets of Mohammed Deif's Final Months: Slept in Rafah's Streets... Moved Without Guard

On July 13, 2024, for approximately three minutes, Israeli warplanes continuously dropped tons of explosives on an open field with a small building inside, in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, which from the first moment suggested that the target was important.

Only hours later, Israel confirmed that the target was the commander-in-chief of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, Mohammed Deif, at a time when Hamas was vehemently denying it, on the grounds that the targeted location was a shelter for displaced people from various parts of the Gaza Strip.

Destruction at a site targeted by Israel in Mawasi near Khan Younis on July 13, 2024, as part of an operation to assassinate Al-Qassam commanders Mohammed Deif and Rafa'a Salameh (AFP)

But about six months later, on January 30, 2025, Al-Qassam acknowledged the assassination of Deif along with the commander of the Khan Younis Brigade, Rafa'a Salameh, and other leaders, including Marwan Issa, Deif's deputy.

‘They Thought He Was in Gaza City’

Three Hamas sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the initial denial of Deif's assassination stemmed from prior information among many of the movement's leaders who believed he was in Gaza City, not in the southern Strip, while some leaders had confirmations that he was in the southern Strip without knowing his exact location.

It appears that some Hamas leaders who went public with denials expected that he might be in one of the tunnels, while one source said that 'Deif did not resort to tunnels since the start of the war, and perhaps was forced to do so only once in one instance.'

The place where Deif was assassinated originally belonged to Rafa'a Salameh, the commander of the Khan Younis Brigade who was killed alongside him, as well as many of Salameh's sons and security personnel affiliated with Al-Qassam.

A photo published by the Al-Qassam Brigades of Mohammed Deif with his obituary (Telegram)

However, Deif's final months before his assassination and the manner of his movements in Gaza remained shrouded in mystery. On the occasion of two years since his assassination, Asharq Al-Awsat asked Hamas sources about their information on how Israel identified him, located him, and killed him.

Two Hamas sources confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades was indeed in Gaza City at the start of the October 7, 2023 offensive, and remained in the northern city until days before Israel's full control of the Netzarim Corridor, particularly the coastal Al-Rashid Street, which remained open for more than two weeks longer than the time its eastern section, Salah al-Din Street, was occupied.

‘Movement Without Guard... and Interrupted Communication’

The two sources, who reside in Gaza and were briefed on information provided by Deif's associates, confirmed that he left Gaza City alone without his personal guard and headed south to Rafah in early November 2023.

Another informed Hamas source said that some Al-Qassam Brigades leaders, including Izz al-Din al-Haddad, who later led Al-Qassam before being assassinated by Israel last May, 'advised Deif before leaving Gaza City to remain there, confirming their ability to provide him with security protection despite the circumstances and extensive security pursuit.' The source added that Deif 'preferred to follow field operations, manage battles, and monitor any political developments related to the negotiation file, which had not yet begun.'

From the right: Al-Qassam Brigades leaders assassinated by Israel in separate attacks: Mohammed Odeh, Rafa'a Salameh, Abu Obeida, and Mohammed Deif (photo published by the Israeli army)

The same source reveals that 'the disruption of communication in the usual manner led to losing contact with Deif for more than four days, after he did not find the intermediary who was supposed to wait for him to transport him to one of the locations; which forced him to head deeper south towards Rafah.'

Over the approximately four days, 'Deif could not find any thread leading him to one of Al-Qassam's safe sites, and due to the absence of his recent photo from Israeli intelligence and the lack of his image's circulation among Palestinians, Deif was able to sleep in areas of Rafah's streets, and once in one of its mosques without anyone noticing him,' according to the source.

In the final months of 2023, the city of Rafah was the site of displacement for over 1.3 million Palestinian refugees, the most crowded situation during the war.

Palestinians waiting to cross into Egypt at the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt on November 1, 2023 (EPA)

Another Hamas source detailed how contact with Deif was reestablished, saying: 'One of the field activists in Al-Qassam suddenly recognized Deif and transferred him to a safe place, then moved him to Khan Younis, and from there he was taken by another intermediary to the place where Rafa'a Salameh was, before they moved together to multiple locations, eventually settling in the place where they were assassinated.'

An Unknown Image of the Al-Qassam Commander

The source says that although 'Deif in recent years was more visible among Al-Qassam leaders and through his visits to military and other sites, Israeli intelligence could not obtain any information or form a true image of him. All it knew was that he was injured and had at least one amputated foot, or suffered a severe injury in one of his feet or his hand.'

The source explains that 'at times when Deif was seriously injured in two incidents, there were attempts to get him out of the Gaza Strip for treatment under a false identity; however, those efforts failed, and he insisted on staying in Gaza.' But another source said: 'It seems that at a certain point, Deif left for treatment for a short period, then returned to Gaza,' a claim not confirmed by the other source or other sources.

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According to three Hamas sources, Israel could not ascertain Deif's health status or even his exact image until it found 'video clips and photos from events of Al-Qassam leaders, in which the brigade commander participated, and they were found inside sites deep in the Strip after the Israeli forces' incursion.'

The sources explained that those documents were transferred to Israeli intelligence, which analyzed them and recruited hundreds of informants to try to reach him and distribute his picture to them, in addition to analysis via artificial intelligence, and feeding intelligence tools such as drones with information including his voice from the last footage of him shortly before the war during the preparation for the October 7 attack—'which led to him being located and assassinated,' according to those sources' estimates.