Mossad agents disguised as beggars and vegetable sellers played a key role in Israel’s daring plan to assassinate the Hamas commander known as the “master of disguise” last month. JC can betray.
Until now, the details of how the Israelis carried out the assassination of Mohhammed Deif, Hamas’s highest-ranking military commander and architect of the October 7 massacre, were unknown.
But the rocket attack that killed him and his deputy Rafa Salama last month came only after a secret operation by an undercover Israeli investigative team in the Gaza Strip that was able to pinpoint his location.
Based on interviews with security sources, it can now be reported that an agent posed as a market stall owner and sold vegetables in front of the building that Deif allegedly visited regularly.
The JC can also reveal that the Israeli agents’ escape plan had to be changed at the last minute.
This new report on the daring mission comes amid feverish speculation about Israel’s assassination methods, which recently killed two of three top Hamas leaders, Deif and Ismail Haniyeh, as well as Hezbollah’s number two, Fuad Shukr. In recent weeks JC has revealed the secrets of the similarly spectacular killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and the hostage rescue in June that secured the release of Noa Argamani and three other Israeli prisoners.
Also removed: Deif’s deputy Rafa Salama
The revelations underscore both Israel’s determination to bring justice to its enemies and the country’s ability to gather intelligence that is crucial to deterring its enemies and averting war.
The operation was based on the Israelis’ discovery that Deif was no longer following basic security protocols. They had known for months that he had become a regular visitor to displaced Gazans at the al-Mawasi tent complex on the Gaza Strip coast. The pattern was almost always the same: Before his visits, Deif would enter a residential building near the complex, where he would meet with other Hamas members to learn about the Israeli army’s movements in the area, as well as the situation regarding the supply of food and medicine to displaced Gazans.
After receiving reliable information from local collaborators and Israeli intelligence units in the area about the timing of Deif’s possible next visit, the Israeli forces began planning his assassination. Upon evaluating the information, they were surprised to discover that Deif, who had been under strict security for 30 years, had mysteriously disregarded this rule and was staying in the same residential building west of Khan Younis. After repeatedly verifying this fact, as the Israelis feared that Deif might in fact have used other disguises during his visits, they realized that this presented an opportunity to exploit this unprecedented failure of the “master of disguise,” a nickname given to him due to his extreme caution after 30 years of failed attempts to eliminate him.
Surveillance missions by drones and Israeli aircraft began sending information to the Israeli command center. The undercover team “Dovdevan”, whose activities were featured in the TV series Faudaarrived in the area and began searching the displaced population. Some posed as UNRWA staff bringing relief supplies, others as Muslim clerics who had come to reassure the evacuees. The cover they used was chosen based on their ability to establish physical and verbal contact with the displaced Gazans in order to gather as much information as possible.
Two other undercover agents were stationed at the campsite. Their job was to note Deif’s arrival time. One of them was disguised as a vegetable stall owner and had set up his stall right in front of the main entrance of the building through which Deif was to come. The other was sitting near the same entrance, disguised as an old man and wearing ragged clothes, making him look like an elderly beggar.
On Saturday, July 13, news spread among Gaza residents that their hero Deif was coming to visit. After the members of the covert team relayed this information to the command center in Israel, the Security Cabinet immediately gave the go-ahead for the operation to begin. Since no exact time for Deif’s arrival was known, the Air Force Commander ordered two fighter jets to hover over the area, high enough to avoid detection. They flew on alert for seven hours, waiting for Deif to enter the building.
Then one of the pilots noticed suspicious movements of armed Hamas members east of the camp, in an area intended as an escape route for the undercover Israeli agents. The operations commander feared that this could endanger their safety, so a new escape plan was hatched. The commander of the undercover ground force was ordered to head towards the sea (just 100 meters away) as soon as Deif entered the building, rather than east towards Israel as planned. The commander immediately relayed the message to his camouflaged fighters through a tiny earpiece.
After several anxious hours, both in the control room in Israel and among the troops on the ground, Deif was finally seen entering the building. The signal was given and the ground troops calmly and calmly made their way to the sea, as if they were strolling down a Tel Aviv street. They were then picked up by an Israeli ship without arousing suspicion.
Five minutes later, the two planes began phased attacks on the target. The first hit the building, completely destroying it. The second plane then laid a fire belt of tiny bombs around the building to prevent Hamas activists from rescuing Deif and Salama from the flames. The final phase was to fire a bunker-penetrating missile that could penetrate beneath the building. Israel’s informants had reported that the building had an underground floor, so the pilots had to use a sophisticated missile that could first penetrate the building and then the ground floor before exploding.
It was assumed that Deif would try to escape to the ground floor, and according to intelligence gathered after the incident, he did just that. This is why it took the IDF two weeks to confirm Deif’s death, as the rubble around his body had to be cleared away.
However, the death of his deputy Salama was only confirmed one day after the attack, as he had already been shot on the first floor.
Deif was one of the first Hamas members. He was arrested by Israel in 1989 and spent 16 months in administrative detention, charged with involvement in a terrorist organization. After his release, he founded the Al-Qassam Brigades with the goal of capturing Israeli soldiers. He constructed the tunnels in the Gaza Strip and was the first to develop the tactic of firing rockets from the Gaza Strip.
In 2002, he survived an assassination attempt in which he lost an eye, a leg and an arm. The most recent assassination attempt against him occurred in 2014, when his wife and son were killed in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza.
Although Deif’s death has been confirmed beyond doubt, Hamas continues to deny it. It appears that it does not want to demoralize its fighters. However, another reason Hamas denied Deif’s death was to confuse Israeli intelligence and cast doubt on its sources and agents.
Gazans, however, do not always believe Hamas’ claims, and there are growing signs of discontent with the way it is conducting the war. Israel’s intelligence unit 8200 has revealed intercepted phone conversations between angry Gazans expressing their outrage at Hamas.
In one of the overheard conversations between two Gazan traders, one angrily says: “They killed Deif! Inshallah they will kill Sinwar too.” His friend replies: “Inshallah. That is what I wish.”
Munir Jaroub, a senior Fatah official, said: “Hamas does not care about the residents of Gaza, but uses them as human shields. That is why there are so many casualties among the residents of Gaza.”
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