Israel has killed Hamas leader Mohammed Deif in a strike - but who was he?

Israel have said the purpose of a strike in southern Gaza was to assassinate Mohammed Deif, the leader of Hamas' military wing.

Missiles hit an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone on June 13, killing at least 90 Palestinians and wounding nearly 300 more, according to the local health ministry.

On August 1, the IDF confirmed in a post on X Deif had been "eliminated".

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister, has previously stated Hamas' entire leadership is marked for death.

But who was Mohammed Deif, and why was he one of Israel's most wanted people?

Deif founded Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades, in the 1990s, and led the unit for over 20 years.

He was born in the refugee camp of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis in the early 1960s, and was believed to have joined Hamas shortly after its formation in the 1980s.

In 1989, during the height of the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, Deif was arrested by Israel but later released.

He was believed to have had key roles in some of Hamas' militant activites, including plotting attacks that killed scores of Israeli citizens, and expanding the labyrinth of tunnels beneath Gaza.

Most recently, Israel identified and Hamas' Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar, as the chief architects of the October 7th attacks that killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel.

Deif was an elusive figure. He was believed to be paralyzed after surviving multiple Israeli assassination attempts.

He had not been seen in public in years, and only a handful of photos of him exist online.

On the morning of October 7, Hamas issued a rare voice recording of Deif announcing the “Al Aqsa Flood" operation.

Deif's death marks one of the highest profile assassination of any Hamas leader by Israel since the war began, representing a huge victory for Israel and a significant symbolic blow for the militant group.

“For the Israelis, it may give them the victory narrative they’ve desperately been chasing for nine months,” said Khaled el-Gindy, an analyst with the US-based Middle East Institute.

But el-Gindy believes it will harden Hamas' position, too.

"Accepting a cease-fire in that context would seem like a surrender,” he said.

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