Hamas Confirms Deaths of Mohammed Deif and Marwan Issa After Six Months

The Hamas group has finally confirmed the deaths of Mohammed Deif, its senior military commander known as the leader of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of the Qassam Brigades, after about six months. In a statement released by this extremist group, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, several other prominent figures were also mentioned. This statement was published on the same day that 110 Palestinian prisoners, including Zakaria Zbeidi, a well-known former commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, were exchanged for three Israeli hostages. The Israeli army had reported the death of Mohammed Deif in an airstrike in Khan Younis on July 23, but Hamas had refrained from confirming this until now. Israel also announced the death of Marwan Issa on the 20th of Esfand 1402 (March 2024). Israeli officials have identified these two, along with Yahya Sinwar, as the main architects of the deadly and swift attack on southern Israel in mid-Mehr 1402 (October 2023), which left 1,200 dead and led to a bloody 15-month war in Gaza, resulting in at least 46,000 Palestinian deaths and the destruction of about 90% of the strip. Last year, Mohammed Deif named Hamas's operation 'Al-Aqsa Storm,' and the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces expressed supportive sentiments, stating that 'Al-Aqsa Storm has certainly turned into a nightmare for the collapse of the Zionist regime [Israel].' Who was Mohammed Deif? Mohammed Deif, whose real name is Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, was a mysterious and influential figure in Hamas who had been pursued by Israeli security forces for years. He survived seven assassination attempts by Israel, although he lost one eye and was mostly forced to use a wheelchair. He played a role in deadly bombings inside Israel over more than two decades and was known for the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli soldiers in the mid-1990s. Mohammed Deif was also famous for designing the tunnel network in Gaza. In the midst of a ceasefire with Israel, Hamas confirmed the deaths of several other senior figures, including Ghazi Abu Tamaa, commander of the weapons and support section, Raed Thabet, commander of the human resources section, Rafiq Salameh, commander of the Khan Younis brigade, Ahmad al-Ghandour, commander of the northern brigade, and Ayman Nofal, commander of the central region brigade. Some observers believe the timing of this confirmation regarding the deaths of these prominent Palestinian militant figures coincides with the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences or long terms in Israeli security prisons, suggesting that Hamas aimed to mitigate the bitterness of acknowledging the loss of its prominent figures by leveraging this timing. The most notable figure who disembarked from the bus in Ramallah on the evening of Bahman 11 (January 31) ahead of other released Palestinians was Zakaria Zbeidi, a former commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. Zakaria Zbeidi, 49, was a commander of these militants in the Jenin camp during the 'Second Intifada' from 2000 to 2005. During this period, his mother was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers. He had been arrested in 2019 and made international headlines in 2021 after escaping from a high-security Israeli prison through a tunnel. Zbeidi and four other Palestinians who escaped with him were, however, re-arrested five days later.