LONDON — His nom de guerre "Deif" means "guest" in Arabic — a reference to his habit of staying in a different house each night to evade Israeli attacks. Mohammed Deif is the elusive head of Hamas' military wing and the man believed to be behind the group's unprecedented Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Within hours of the attack, a recorded statement was released by a Hamas TV channel, according to Reuters, claiming to show Deif. "Enough is enough," the figure in the video said, appearing as a silhouette. He announced the beginning of what he called "Operation Al-Aqsa Storm," a reference to the mosque in Jerusalem, Islam's third-holiest site, where Israelis have carried out recent raids.
