Palestinians inspect the damage from Israeli strikes on a tent camp in Al Mawasi. The strikes were reportedly targeting Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. Reuters
Palestinians inspect the damage from Israeli strikes on a tent camp in Al Mawasi. The strikes were reportedly targeting Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. Reuters
Palestinians inspect the damage from Israeli strikes on a tent camp in Al Mawasi. The strikes were reportedly targeting Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. Reuters
Palestinians inspect the damage from Israeli strikes on a tent camp in Al Mawasi. The strikes were reportedly targeting Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. Reuters

Who is Mohammed Deif, the Hamas commander Israel says was killed in Gaza's Al Mawasi?


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Israel's military said on Thursday that Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas' military wing, had been killed in a July 13 Israeli air strike in Al Mawasi camp.

The massive bombing raid at the time levelled several buildings and killed at least 90 people, injuring nearly 300.

Hamas at the time denied that Mr Deif was the target and said it was an attempt to "justify the horrifying massacre". "We can now confirm: Mohammed Deif was eliminated," the Israeli army wrote on their official social media account on X. No further details were provided.

Israel says Mr Deif played a key role in the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7 and has vowed to kill him.

More than 38,000 Palestinians, the majority civilians, have been killed in more than nine months of war.

Senior military commander

Mr Deif’s real name is Mohammed Diab Al Masri.

Deif is a nom de guerre that means "guest" in Arabic, in reference to his habit of constantly changing his location to avoid assassination.

He was born into a refugee camp in Khan Younis in 1965, and first became involved with Hamas in Gaza in the 1980s when he led the Islamists’ union at Gaza Islamic University. He was studying as a biology student and had become close to the Muslim Brotherhood, with which Hamas has close ties.

Mr Deif became involved in Hamas's military operations over the next 20 years.

He was arrested by Israel in 1989 and spent about 16 months in detention, a Hamas source told Reuters.

Rising in Hamas ranks, Mr Deif developed the group's network of tunnels and its bomb-making expertise.

In 2002, he was appointed the commander of Hamas’s military wing, the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades. His predecessor, Salah Shehade, was killed in an Israeli raid.

Israel sees him as behind the campaign of suicide bombings that targeted buses and public places in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem during the Second Intifada between 2000 and 2005, and considers him responsible for the death of scores of civilians.

There are only three known photographs of Mr Deif: one taken in his twenties, another of him masked and an image of his shadow, which was used when the audio tape was broadcast.

His survival while running Hamas's armed wing has created an element of mystique around him. In videos he is masked, or just a silhouette of him is shown.

One of the three photos of Mohammed Deif. AFP
One of the three photos of Mohammed Deif. AFP

Role in October 7

Israel accuses Mr Deif of being one of the masterminds of the Hamas-led October 7 attack on southern Israel.

About 1,200 Israelis were killed in the attacks, which prompted Israel's retaliatory war against Gaza in which more than 38,000 people have been killed.

As the leader of Hamas's military wing, Mr Deif is seen as having organised the attacks alongside Hamas's senior leader, Yahya Sinwar.

A recording of Mr Deif was broadcast on Hamas's TV channel on the day of the attack.

"Today the rage of Al Aqsa, the rage of our people and nation is exploding. Our mujahedeen, today is your day to make this criminal understand that his time has ended," Mr Deif said in the recording.

In the recording, Mr Deif named the attack "Al Aqsa Flood," linking it to Israeli raids on the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

Since October 7, Israel's leaders have repeatedly vowed to wipe out Hamas as an organisation.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has told reporters that the group's leaders are "living on borrowed time".

A relative of the wife of Hamas's military leader, Mohammed Deif, and his infant son Ali, whom medics said were killed in Israeli air strikes, carries Ali's body during their funeral in the northern Gaza Strip August 20, 2014. Reuters
A relative of the wife of Hamas's military leader, Mohammed Deif, and his infant son Ali, whom medics said were killed in Israeli air strikes, carries Ali's body during their funeral in the northern Gaza Strip August 20, 2014. Reuters

Previous assassination attempts

Israel has attempted to kill Mr Deif on at least seven occasions.

Four assassination attempts during the 2000s reportedly left him wounded. Some reports say he lost an eye during one strike.

Several members of his family have been killed in the attempted assassinations.

Mr Deif's wife, seven-month-old son and three-year-old daughter were killed by an Israeli air strike in 2014.

“Mohamed Deif deserves to die just like [Osama] bin Laden. He is an arch murderer and as long as we have an opportunity we will try to kill him,” Israeli's former interior minister Gideon Saar told army radio in 2014.

In 2021, Israel fought an 11-day conflict with Hamas in Gaza. The Israeli military tried to kill Mr Deif at least twice during the operation, but he survived.

Shortly after October 7, Hamas said Mr Deif's brother was killed in an Israeli strike.

Abdul Fattah Deif, along with his son and granddaughter, were killed after Israeli jets struck Khan Younis on October 11. It is not known whether Mr Deif was the intended target of that strike.

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Rating: 4/5

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Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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Amira Sakalla

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heading

Iran has sent five planeloads of food to Qatar, which is suffering shortages amid a regional blockade.

A number of nations, including Iran's major rival Saudi Arabia, last week cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of funding terrorism, charges it denies.

The land border with Saudi Arabia, through which 40% of Qatar's food comes, has been closed.

Meanwhile, mediators Kuwait said that Qatar was ready to listen to the "qualms" of its neighbours.

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European arms

Known EU weapons transfers to Ukraine since the war began: Germany 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles. Luxembourg 100 NLAW anti-tank weapons, jeeps and 15 military tents as well as air transport capacity. Belgium 2,000 machine guns, 3,800 tons of fuel. Netherlands 200 Stinger missiles. Poland 100 mortars, 8 drones, Javelin anti-tank weapons, Grot assault rifles, munitions. Slovakia 12,000 pieces of artillery ammunition, 10 million litres of fuel, 2.4 million litres of aviation fuel and 2 Bozena de-mining systems. Estonia Javelin anti-tank weapons.  Latvia Stinger surface to air missiles. Czech Republic machine guns, assault rifles, other light weapons and ammunition worth $8.57 million.

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Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

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• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
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Uefa Nations League

League A:
Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, France, England, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Iceland, Croatia, Netherlands

League B:
Austria, Wales, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, Republic of Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Turkey

League C:
Hungary, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia, Greece, Serbia, Albania, Norway, Montenegro, Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania

League D:
Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Malta, Andorra, Kosovo, San Marino, Gibraltar

Kat Wightman's tips on how to create zones in large spaces

 

  • Area carpets or rugs are the easiest way to segregate spaces while also unifying them.
  • Lighting can help define areas. Try pendant lighting over dining tables, and side and floor lamps in living areas.
  • Keep the colour palette the same in a room, but combine different tones and textures in different zone. A common accent colour dotted throughout the space brings it together.
  • Don’t be afraid to use furniture to break up the space. For example, if you have a sofa placed in the middle of the room, a console unit behind it will give good punctuation.
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The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.

The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.

There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).

All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.

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Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

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RESULT

Deportivo La Coruna 2 Barcelona 4
Deportivo:
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Barcelona: Coutinho (6'), Messi (37', 81', 84')

Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

Updated: August 01, 2024, 10:11 AM