Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, widely known as ‘El Deif,’ has been instrumental in shaping the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The elusive figure, believed to have been born in the 1960s, has avoided being tracked and killed by Israel by staying in different houses each night. He now heads the Al Qassem Brigades, Hamas’s military wing. While not well-known among ordinary Palestinians, El Deif has played a pivotal role in Hamas’s opposition to the peace process and the 1993 Oslo Accords.
He was responsible for orchestrating attacks intended to derail the peace process, including suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in 1996 that killed 65 people. El Deif, a skilled bomb maker, survived an Israeli airstrike in 2014 that claimed the lives of his wife and daughter, leaving him physically impaired. Under his guidance, Hamas recently worked to deceive Israel into believing that its focus was on domestic issues and rebuilding Gaza. However, the recent attack on Israel has resulted in significant military repercussions and heightened tensions in the region.