Editing Mohammed Deif (section)

==Early life==
Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri was born on 12 August 1965 in the [[Khan Yunis Camp|Khan Younis refugee camp]] in the southern [[Gaza Strip]].<ref name="reuters20231010">{{Cite news |last1=Nakhoul |first1=Samia |last2=Bassam |first2=Laila |date=11 October 2023 |title=Who is Mohammed Deif, the Hamas commander behind the attack on Israel? |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/how-secretive-hamas-commander-masterminded-attack-israel-2023-10-10/ |access-date=4 November 2023 |archive-date=17 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017133933/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/how-secretive-hamas-commander-masterminded-attack-israel-2023-10-10/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="birthday">{{Cite web |title=Mohammed Deif |url=https://www.counterextremism.com/extremists/mohammed-deif |access-date=30 May 2024 |website=Counter Extremism Project |language=en |archive-date=27 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227074241/https://www.counterextremism.com/extremists/mohammed-deif |url-status=live }}</ref> His family originates from [[Al-Qubayba, Ramle|al-Qubeiba]], a former town near [[Ramleh]] in [[Mandatory Palestine]], but [[1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight|fled or were expelled]] during the [[1948 Palestine war]].<ref name="R1">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-most-wanted-three-hamas-commanders-gaza-it-must-kill-2023-12-01/|title=Insight: Israel's most wanted: the three Hamas leaders in Gaza it aims to kill|first1=Samia|last1=Nakhoul|first2=James|last2=Mackenzie|first3=Phil|last3=Stewart|work=[[Reuters]]|date=1 December 2023|access-date=16 July 2024|archive-date=11 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211232333/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-most-wanted-three-hamas-commanders-gaza-it-must-kill-2023-12-01/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="newsweek20231027">{{Cite web |last=O'Connor |first=Tom |date=13 October 2023 |title=Mohammed Deif, Che Guevara to Gaza, Bin Laden to Israel, faces last stand |url=https://www.newsweek.com/2023/10/27/hamas-mohammed-deif-mastermind-israels-9-11-faces-last-stand-gaza-1834716 |access-date=19 November 2023 |website=Newsweek |language=en |archive-date=19 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119165419/https://www.newsweek.com/2023/10/27/hamas-mohammed-deif-mastermind-israels-9-11-faces-last-stand-gaza-1834716 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Morris, Benny |date=2004 |title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PR19 |page=xix |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-00967-6 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402072738/https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PR19 |archive-date=2 April 2019 }} Village #251. Also gives cause of depopulation.</ref> According to the [[Shin Bet]], either his father or his uncle had participated in sporadic raids into Israel conducted by Palestinian fedayeen in the 1950s.<ref name="ft20231008">{{Cite news |last=Srivastava |first=Mehul |date=8 October 2023 |title=Who is 'The Guest': the Palestinian mastermind behind deadly Israel incursion |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/d52e8653-8ee6-40fd-a9b0-14fb5e1794c9 |access-date=17 November 2023 |archive-date=8 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231008222504/https://www.ft.com/content/d52e8653-8ee6-40fd-a9b0-14fb5e1794c9 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Although not much is known about the details of his early life and upbringing,<ref name="bbc20210530">{{Cite news |date=30 May 2021 |title=Mohammed Deif: The one-eyed Hamas chief in Israel's crosshairs |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-57253521 |access-date=4 March 2023 |archive-date=11 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111212237/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-57253521 |url-status=live |first=Joshua |last=Nevett}}</ref> he reportedly had to temporarily drop out of school to support his low-income family, working with his father in upholstery and later starting a small poultry farm.<ref name="aawsat20231008" /> It is understood that he studied chemistry at the [[Islamic University of Gaza]],<ref name="washingtonpost20140802">{{Cite news |last=Raghavan |first=Sudarsan |date=2 August 2014 |title=Mohammed Deif, the shadowy figure who heads Hamas's military wing |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/mohammed-deif-the-shadowy-figure-who-heads-hamass-military-wing/2014/08/02/ed68c46e-1a85-11e4-85b6-c1451e622637_story.html |access-date=4 March 2023 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001001811/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/mohammed-deif-the-shadowy-figure-who-heads-hamass-military-wing/2014/08/02/ed68c46e-1a85-11e4-85b6-c1451e622637_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="afr20231026">{{Cite web |date=26 October 2023 |title=Hamas' deadly 'phantom': the man behind the attacks |url=https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/hamas-deadly-phantom-the-man-behind-the-attacks-20231025-p5eevg |access-date=7 November 2023 |website=Australian Financial Review |language=en |archive-date=7 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107203914/https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/hamas-deadly-phantom-the-man-behind-the-attacks-20231025-p5eevg |url-status=live |first=Nicolas |last=Pelham}}</ref> from which he graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1988.<ref name="aawsat20140828">{{Cite web |last=Ziboun |first=Kifah |date=28 August 2014 |title=From the Spotlight to the Shadows |url=https://eng-archive.aawsat.com/kifah-ziboun/features/from-the-spotlight-to-the-shadows |access-date=4 March 2023 |website=Asharq Al-Awsat |archive-date=4 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230304150016/https://eng-archive.aawsat.com/kifah-ziboun/features/from-the-spotlight-to-the-shadows |url-status=live }}</ref>

During his years at the university, he had a passion for theatre, establishing a theatre group called "The Returners", in reference to [[Palestinian refugees]] longing [[Palestinian right of return|to return]] to the lands they lived on before the [[Nakba]].<ref name="washingtonpost20140802" /><ref name="aawsat20140828" /> He played a number of roles, including those of historical figures.<ref name="aawsat20231008">{{Cite web |title=Mohammed Deif, the Voice of War |url=https://english.aawsat.com/node/4592016 |access-date=4 November 2023 |website=Asharq Al-Awsat |language=en |archive-date=20 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240520114714/https://english.aawsat.com/features/4592016-mohammed-deif-voice-war |url-status=live |first=Kifah |last=Zboun}}</ref>