New details published by the Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat, citing Hamas sources, reveal that Mohammed Deif was in Gaza City on October 7, 2023, fled alone to Rafah in November, lost contact for over four days, and slept in public spaces. He was eliminated with Rafa'a Salameh on July 13, 2024, the report says.
Two years after the elimination of Hamas military wing commander Mohammed Deif, new details about his escape route in the months following the October 7, 2023 massacre have been published. According to Hamas sources cited by the Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat and reported by Israel Hayom, Deif was in Gaza City on the day of the attack and remained there for several days before Israel seized the Netzarim Corridor, which separates Gaza City from the southern Strip.
The sources say that in November 2023, Deif left Gaza City alone without a personal escort and headed toward Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. During this period, contact with him was lost for more than four days because he could not find his designated driver and changed his route. With no recent photograph of him available, Deif was able to sleep in the streets of Rafah and in one of the city's mosques without being recognized, amidst the mass displacement of Gazans to the area.
The report says that contact was reestablished in Rafah when Deif encountered a Hamas operative by chance, who took him to a hideout before transferring him to Khan Younis. There, he was moved by another operative to the hideout of Rafa'a Salameh, the Hamas Khan Younis Brigade commander. Together they moved among several hideouts before reaching the compound where both were eliminated by an Israeli strike on July 13, 2024. The sources also note that senior Hamas officials, including Az al-Din al-Haddad, advised Deif to remain in Gaza City, but he preferred to follow battlefield developments and negotiations.
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