On 19 August 2014, the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

carried out an airstrike at the home of Mohammed Deif, leader of the

Al-Qassam Brigades The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades ( ar, كتائب الشهيد عز الدين القسام, , Battalions of martyr Izz ad-Din al-Qassam; also spelt Izzedine or Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades; often shortened to Al-Qassam Brigades, IQB

. Deif was unharmed, but his wife Widad Asfura and his two children were killed.

Background

Deif joined Hamas in 1987, weeks after its establishment during the

First Intifada The First Intifada, or First Palestinian Intifada (also known simply as the intifada or intifadah),The word ''intifada'' () is an Arabic word meaning "uprising". Its strict Arabic transliteration is '. was a sustained series of Palestinian ...

. He was arrested by Israeli authorities in 1989 for his involvement with the organization. After 16 months of detention, he was released in a prisoner exchange. Soon after his release, he helped establish the

Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades ( ar, كتائب الشهيد عز الدين القسام, , Battalions of martyr Izz ad-Din al-Qassam; also spelt Izzedine or Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades; often shortened to Al-Qassam Brigades, IQB

, the armed wing of Hamas. Deif became the head of the Qassam Brigades after Israel assassinated

Salah Shehade Salah Mustafa Muhammad Shehade صلاح شحادة (or Shehadeh, Shahadeh; 24 February 1953 – 22 July 2002) was a member of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. He led the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades military wing of Hamas, until his as ...

in July 2002. Between July 2006 and November 2012, effective command was exercised by Deif's deputy, Ahmed Jabari, after Deif was seriously wounded in an Israeli assassination attempt. Mohammed Deif married Widad Asfura ( ar, وداد عصفورة, Widad Asfoura), Quote in he, וידאד עספורה דף, אשתו בת ה-27 של מפקד חמאס, ועלי מוחמד דף, בנו בן ה-7, נהרגו בהפצצת צה"ל יחד עם עוד ארבעה בני אדם ובהם אשתו ובנו של אחמד דאלו - בעל הבית שהותקף ובכיר בזרוע הצבאית של חמאס. , , Widad Asfora Daf, the 27-year-old wife of a Hamas commander, and Ali Muhammad Daf, his 7-year-old son (sic.), were killed in an IDF bombing along with four other people, including the wife and son of Ahmed Dalou - the owner of the house that was attacked and a senior in the arm the military of Hamas. sometimes referred to as Widad Deif, in 2007 or 2011. Widad was already a widow, her previous husband was a martyred Qassami fighter. They had four children together, and Deif has two other sons, Bahaa ( ar, بهاء) and Khaled ( ar, خالد).

Air strike

On Tuesday 19 August 2014, Israel attempted to assassinate Deif in an airstrike on his house in the

Sheikh Radwan Sheikh Radwan ( ar, الشيخ رضوان) is a district of Gaza City located nearly northwest of the city center. It borders al-Shati camp to the southwest, Rimal to the south, and Jabalia to the east. The Sheikh Radwan Cemetery is located in the ...

district of

Gaza City Gaza (;''The New Oxford Dictionary of English'' (1998), , p. 761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory in Palestine, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza...". ar, غَزَّة ', ), also referred to as Gaza City, i ...

. The strike on the family home killed his 27-year old wife (Widad Asfoura) "Should Deif request the hand of any of my other daughters, I will happily consent and even if she, too, is martyred I will consent to the third. It is an honor to have Deif a husband to any of my daughters and be a father to their children." - Zeian Asfura, (mother of Widad Deif) and two of their children, a 3-year-old daughter ( ar, سارة محمد الضيف, Sarah Mohammed Al-Deif) and 7-month-old son (referred to at the funeral as "Ali Deif", ar, علي الضيف), and three other members of the household. The strike also killed a mother and her two teenage sons from the Al Dalu family. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights claimed it was the same house previously destroyed in 2012, also killing multiple members of the Al Dalu family. The strike, however, did not kill Mohammed Deif. Israeli intelligence concluded in April 2015 that Deif had survived the assassination attempt, the fifth Israeli attempt to kill him.'Hamas's chief of staff alive and active, Israel confirms,'
The Times of Israel 29 April 2015. On the same day, the IDF successfully assassinated 3 other leaders: (41 years old),

Raed al Atar Raed al Atar (1974–2014) was the commander of the Rafah company of the Hamas Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades and member of the Hamas high military council. According to the Congressional Research Service analyst Jim Zanotti, his command was impo ...

(40 years old), and Muhammad Barhoum (45 years old).

Funeral and public reaction in Gaza

Several thousand people attended the funeral of Deif's wife and son in Gaza, angrily demanding revenge against Israel and firing shots into the air. The bodies of Widad and Ali were taken from the wife’s family home to a mosque in

Jabaliya Jabalia also Jabalya ( ar, جباليا) is a Palestinian city located north of Gaza City. It is under the jurisdiction of the North Gaza Governorate, in the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Jabalia had a popu ...

refugee camp for prayers, then laid to rest in the sand of a cemetery. Deif’s daughter, ar, سارة محمد الضيف, Sarah Mohammed Deif, was not buried on the same day as her brother because her body was not recovered from the rubble until approximately midday on Thursday, the day after her brother's funeral, and two days after the air strike. A strangely flattering letter claiming to be from (Mohammed Deif’s in laws) was published in Palestinian media. Israeli papers reported that Widad's mother did not regret approving of the marriage, and said she would do the same again.

Israeli criticism of the attempted assassination

In addition to the rage in Gaza, some within Israel also criticised the strike. Gideon Levy, in his opinion piece "What Would Israel Do in Hamas' Shoes?" for

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

, asked how Israel would react if Hamas killed the wife and children of one of Israel's leaders. Levy also pointed out that even if the assassination had been successful, based on past successful strikes on Ahmad Yassin and others, Deif would have been replaced, and by someone more extreme.

Notes

References

External links

76 photographs from Ali and Widad's funeral
by

Getty Images Getty Images Holdings, Inc. is an American visual media company and is a supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three markets— creative ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Killing of the wife, daughter, and infant son of Mohammed Deif Failed assassination attempts in Asia 2014 Gaza War Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip August 2014 events in Asia Gaza City in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict 2014 airstrikes Airstrikes conducted by Israel 2014 building bombings Building bombings in the Gaza Strip Extrajudicial killings by the Israeli military