HAMAS mastermind Mohammed Deif, who hid in the shadows for years before the October 7 massacre, has resurfaced in a chilling new picture.
Israeli forces have been hunting Hamas terrorists in Gaza and claim to have unearthed a photograph of the warlord clutching a wad of US dollars.
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The IDF said they recovered around 70 million digital files during the ground operation, providing vital intelligence for their ongoing efforts to obliterate the Hamas top brass.
And Mohammed Deif, whose picture was among the files, has been Israel’s Most Wanted Man for decades.
Previously compared to Osama Bin Laden, Deif has dodged over a dozen assassination attempts and countless strikes from Israel over the years.
An air strike attempt to take him out in 2021 apparently confined him to life in a wheelchair after he lost both his legs, one arm and an eye.
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But IDF reports from late December last year claimed he was in better physical condition than previously thought.
He was said to be walking around with nothing more than a slight limp.
He survives by hiding out in Gaza’s underground tunnel network — which he helped plan — or moving to new safe houses every night.
Born in a refugee camp, he even changed his name to Deif — which means “The Guest” in Arabic — to reflect his constant moves from house to house.
Until very recently, there was only one picture of him.
But the new snap unearthed this week appears to show Deif drinking with another man who is counting American money, while he holds a wad of cash himself.
The picture, released by the IDF and reportedly taken around 2018, shows him missing an eye.
Just weeks ago another snapshot of Deif was uncovered, said to be taken around the same time.
The image, published by Channel 12, also showed Deif missing an eye – possibly confirming parts of the earlier reports about injuries he sustained after surviving the 2021 air strike.
The photo surfaced days after Israeli troops raided his house as they got one step closer to the elusive figure, but they did not manage to kill him.
He was born Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri in Gaza in 1965.
As commander of the al-Qassam brigades, Hamas’s military wing, he released a recording as his fighters were flooding into Israel to kill or kidnap men, women and children.
He urged Palestinians to “expel the occupiers and demolish the walls”.
And he called on followers in other countries to join the fight, sparking fears of a multi-national insurgency.
Mkhaimar Abusada, professor of politics at Gaza’s Al-Azhar University, previously said he will be “like a god to the young” after the assault.
He added: “He is exactly like Bin Laden. This is an arch-murderer.”
Israel is continuing its relentless efforts in the Gaza Strip to wipe out Hamas following months of brutal warfare.
The besieged enclave has been reduced to rubble as the IDF rounds up members of Hamas and targets its leaders.
Most recently the IDF claimed to take out Hamas commander Ismail Sarraj, and his deputy, Ahmed Vahba.
The attack on Saturday evening is the latest assassination of a mastermind behind Hamas’ brutal October 7 attacks.
It came after ever increasing tensions in the region following the assassination of another Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri.
Arouri was killed earlier this week in a surgical strike in Lebanon.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported he died in an explosion caused by an attack on an apartment used as Hamas’ office.
In response Iran-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, closely linked to Arouri and Hamas, launched a barrage of rockets into Israel as payback.
The war against Hamas in Gaza has now engulfed a major part of Middle East – with Iran-backed Houthis, Lebanon, and Hezbollah turning up against Israel.
The UN has warned Israel of a potential all-out war in the region.
Earlier this week, the US said it remains “incredibly concerned” about the risk of the conflict in Gaza broadening into a major regional conflict.
And now US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on a diplomatic tour of the Middle East amid the potential escalation of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Despite international concern, Israeli forces have said that months of fighting lie ahead in southern Gaza, an area densely packed with the majority of the enclave’s 2.3 million people who earlier fled the fighting in the north.
With homes destroyed, they are living in crowded shelters and struggling to find food, fuel, water and medical supplies.
Figures released on the death toll from Hamas-controlled Gaza state that 8,000 children and 6,200 women are among the some 20,000 to have died.
Israel disputes these figures, while US President Joe Biden previously said he had “no confidence” in them.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has admitted that Israel has “not been successful” in reducing civilian casualties.
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