In the battle waged over the narrative of Operation Protective Edge (July-August 2014), in which both sides declared victory, it appears that the Palestinians have scored a significant achievement: Mohammed al-Deif, the Hamas chief of staff and No. 1 on Israel's "most wanted list" who has survived numerous assassination attempts, has survived this time as well. It is clear; no more question marks; the uncertainty has disappeared: Deif is alive.
Although it is not exactly known what condition he is in, it is clear that he survived the assault on Aug. 19, 2014, in the midst of the military campaign. During the campaign Israel was notified about a house where Deif was residing at the time, and an air force fighter plane struck the house with numerous powerful bombs, each of which weighing a single ton (2,000 pounds). "He'll never get out of there alive," senior Israeli security officials said at the time. But it seems they erred; Deif did, indeed, escape with his life.
Deif survived at least five Israeli liquidation attempts between 2001 and 2014; four of those were targeted killings from the air that were based on precise intelligence. He was wounded a first time (losing an eye and part of his arm) and severely wounded a second time (losing additional limbs). Deif became handicapped, paralyzed and in need of long periods of rehabilitation. Yet in the meantime, he became one of the most deadly generators of terrorism in Israel's history. Israeli intelligence invested tremendous resources and energy in the effort to pinpoint and eliminate him. The intelligence was exact, but somehow Deif managed to elude all attempts on his life. He was severely wounded, but lived. He was neutralized many times for long periods of rehab, but always returned.
In the Protective Edge campaign, Israel desperately needed a victory photo op. For 50 days and nights, Hamas imposed a rocket-fire siege on the entire country. Rockets were launched at Tel Aviv on a daily basis (though the city was not struck due to the Iron Dome air defense system). The Benjamin Netanyahu government decided not to go for conquest of Gaza in its desire to spare the lives of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers and Gaza residents. Everyone understood the fact that Hamas would survive this campaign while still on its feet — even if those feet were very unsteady — would be interpreted as an unambiguous Hamas victory. The only thing that could change this equation was to "bring in Mohammed al-Deif."
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