Welcome to Ebere Samuel's Blog: Mohammed Dief

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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;"><img class="" data-hi-res-src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_1484w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/29/Others/Images/2014-07-29/07292014_GazaAttack_Becherer0031406651706.jpg?uuid=Uq7Rkhc-EeSI95btdnu3Rw" data-low-res-src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_400w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/29/Others/Images/2014-07-29/07292014_GazaAttack_Becherer0031406651706.jpg?uuid=Uq7Rkhc-EeSI95btdnu3Rw" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_1484w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/29/Others/Images/2014-07-29/07292014_GazaAttack_Becherer0031406651706.jpg?uuid=Uq7Rkhc-EeSI95btdnu3Rw" style="border: 0px; width: 599px;" /><br /><span class="pb-caption">Gaza City, Gaza Strip: The home of Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh was destroyed over night by Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday, July 29, 2014. Attacks from both sides continue as peace talks are continued. (Max Becherer/Max Becherer/Polaris Images For The Washington Post)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="pb-byline" style="display: inline-block; padding-right: 5px;">By <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/sudarsan-raghavan/" style="text-decoration: none;">Sudarsan Raghavan</a></span> <span class="pb-timestamp" style="display: inline-block; padding-right: 5px;">August 2 at 11:44 PM</span> <span class="pb-tool email" style="display: inline-block; padding-right: 5px;"><a href="mailto:raghavans@washpost.com?subject=Reader%20feedback%20for%20'Mohammed%20Deif,%20the%20shadowy%20figure%20who%20heads%20Hamas%E2%80%99s%20military%20wing'" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="fa fa-envelope" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; display: inline-block;"></span></a></span> <span class="tweet-authors"><span class="pb-twitter-follow" style="display: inline-block; margin-right: 5px; position: relative; top: 5px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" class="twitter-follow-button twitter-follow-button" data-twttr-rendered="true" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/follow_button.1406859257.html#_=1407049910333&id=twitter-widget-0&lang=en&screen_name=africawriter&show_count=false&show_screen_name=true&size=m" style="height: 20px; width: 131px;" title="Twitter Follow Button"></iframe></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="dateline">GAZA CITY —</span> On a narrow, rubble-strewn Gaza street, where an Israeli airstrike recently obliterated the home of a top Hamas leader, a group of boys and men praised a shadowy, middle-age man most Palestinians have never seen — and whom Israel is eager to kill.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">“He’s a role model for us,” declared Ahmed, 32, a Hamas security detail, clutching a walkie-talkie. “He’s a legend for the children, for everyone in Gaza.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">“He is defending our homeland,” agreed Yassin Abu Rialah, 14.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">To Israelis, Mohammed Deif is enemy number one. As the top commander of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, Deif has tormented the Jewish state for three decades, deploying suicide bombers and directing the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers. He has survived several attempts by Israel to assassinate him, earning him the nickname “the cat with nine lives.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">Deif, according to Israeli military and intelligence officials, is the mastermind of the Palestinian militant group’s current strategy of firing rockets at Israel and building <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/hamas-tunnels-stoke-anxiety-bolstering-israelis-support-of-war/2014/07/31/ae67267e-18e7-11e4-85b6-c1451e622637_story.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" title="www.washingtonpost.com">tunnel networks</a> through which highly trained fighters can infiltrate Israel. Those and other tactics have killed 63 Israeli soldiers and three civilians inside Israel since the war began July 8, making Deif the most wanted man in Gaza.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/world/the-gaza-crisis/" style="text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rw//2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/08/02/Foreign/Graphics/gazaoverview-teez.jpg?uuid=6tdcbBnZEeSI95btdnu3Rw" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /></a><br /><span class="pb-caption">Almost a month after Israel launched Operation Protective Edge, life in the Palestinian territory is becoming increasingly difficult. The United Nations estimates that almost a quarter of Gaza's 1.8 million residents have been displaced by the fighting, and all residents are struggling with power outages and a lack of basic supplies.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">As Israel <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/hamas-says-missing-israeli-soldier-in-gaza-hadar-goldin-is-likely-dead/2014/08/02/92562694-56cd-48c0-921b-b851fb2eca09_story.html?hpid=z1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" title="www.washingtonpost.com">presses forward</a> with its ground offensive, Deif is also viewed by some Israeli military analysts as a key obstacle to a negotiated end to the conflict. Al-Qassam Brigades fighters on Friday attacked Israeli soldiers and, according to Israel’s military, abducted an officer —<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/israel-hamas-agree-to-72-hour-humanitarian-cease-fire/2014/08/01/059f1ff8-194e-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265_story.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" title="www.washingtonpost.com">shattering</a> a 72-hour humanitarian truce brokered by the United States and the United Nations. Early Sunday morning, Israel’s military said the officer was killed in battle. The attack and other cease-fire violations by Hamas reflect divisions between the organization’s political and military wings, with the latter wielding greater influence, analysts said.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">“The decision-maker in Hamas is Mohammed Deif, leader of the military wing, and he is against the cease-fire because he believes every day they continue to fight is another achievement for them,” said retired Gen. Giora Eiland, a former Israeli national security adviser.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">To Palestinians, Deif is a heroic figure, one of the last remaining leaders from Hamas’s first and second generations, long admired for his defiance of Israel. A former stage actor, he is said to be a master of disguise, known for a chameleon-like ability to melt into the population.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">He is thought to be about 50, but the last known photo of him dates back two decades. Little is known about his family life. No one even knows whether Deif is his real name. Some analysts say his name is actually Mohammed al-Masri and that he took his nom de guerre from a role he took in a play at university. Today, the soft-spoken Deif is rumored to be in a wheelchair, after an<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/12/AR2006071201431_pf.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" title="www.washingtonpost.com"> Israeli attack in 2006</a> that also cost him an eye and an arm.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">“He’s very quiet. He keeps a low profile and lives hidden among the population. He moves with different passports and different identities,” said Imad Falouji, a former senior Hamas leader who helped found al-Qassam Brigades and is one of the few people who have met Deif. “He’s successful until now because the circle around him is very small. That is why he is still alive.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">The fact that Deif’s life is shrouded in secrecy has only burnished his reputation. In a poll of Hamas leaders taken several months ago by a Palestinian news Web site, Deif was voted more popular than Khaled Meshal, the overall leader of Hamas, and Ismail Haniyeh, the group’s top political leader in Gaza — both highly visible personalities and known to every Palestinian.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">Compared to Meshal, who reportedly lives in a five-star hotel in Qatar, Deif is perceived by Palestinians as down-to-earth, a man of the people, Falouji said. Deif’s hard-line attitude toward Israel is seen as an accurate representation of the interests and demands of Palestinians.</span></span></div>
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AUG. 1, 2014</div>
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Friday</div>
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A family walks through the rubble of the Bureij refugee camp in Gaza as a cease-fire begins. The cease-fire later failed as word spread that an Israeli solder has been captured." data-credit="Max Becherer/Polaris Images for The Washington Post" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/08/01/Others/Images/2014-08-01/08012014_FailedCease_Becherer0051406901065.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3850" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="Aug. 1, 2014 " data-uuid="e5455b20-1982-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A donkey cart carrying men starting their day walks past a burned minibus in Gaza City." data-credit="Max Becherer/Polaris Images for The Washington Post" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/08/01/Others/Images/2014-08-01/08012014_FailedCease_Becherer0011406900825.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3850" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="Aug. 1, 2014  " data-uuid="5570b260-1982-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A family driving through the Bureij refugee camp in Gaza looks at damaged homes as the short-lived cease-fire begins." data-credit="Max Becherer/Polaris Images for The Washington Post" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/08/01/Others/Images/2014-08-01/08012014_FailedCease_Becherer0041406900946.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3850" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="Aug. 1, 2014    " data-uuid="a0a68c64-1982-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A man inspects an unexploded Israeli bomb lying in the road between Gaza City and southern Gaza in Deir al-Balah." data-credit="Max Becherer/Polaris Images for The Washington Post" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/08/01/Others/Images/2014-08-01/08012014_FailedCease_Becherer0021406900945.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3850" data-ratio="1.475" data-title="Aug. 1, 2014  " data-uuid="9cfd780c-1982-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A man at the Bureij refugee camp displays a handful of flechettes deployed from an Israeli munition." data-credit="Max Becherer/Polaris Images for The Washington Post" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/08/01/Others/Images/2014-08-01/08012014_FailedCease_Becherer0081406901067.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3850" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="Aug. 1, 2014   " data-uuid="e919f47c-1982-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinians run for cover during clashes with Israeli soldiers following a protest outside Ofer, an Israeli military prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah." data-credit="Majdi Mohammed/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/08/01/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-09450-14767.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5616" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="Aug. 1, 2014 " data-uuid="07c25da4-1994-11e4-9349-84d4a85be981" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian man runs for cover following a protest outside the Israeli military prison of Ofer." data-credit="Majdi Mohammed/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/08/01/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-01a4c-14768.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5616" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="Aug. 1, 2014  " data-uuid="0fc8d578-1994-11e4-9349-84d4a85be981" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A masked Palestinian kicks a burning tire during clashes following the protest." data-credit="Majdi Mohammed/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/08/01/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-0abe9-14769.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5616" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="Aug. 1, 2014  " data-uuid="1b261ed0-1994-11e4-9349-84d4a85be981" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian protester is carried after being injured. " data-credit="Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty Images" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/08/01/Foreign/Images/Nic6356919.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="2306" data-ratio="1.61" data-title="Aug. 1, 2014  " data-uuid="30cf9c8e-1994-11e4-9349-84d4a85be981" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinian children wounded in Israeli shelling are treated in a hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip." data-credit="Eyad Baba/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/08/01/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-0d58b.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3504" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="Aug. 1, 2014   " data-uuid="472f34da-1994-11e4-9349-84d4a85be981" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-title" data-uuid="" style="background-position: 0px -10000px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
<div class="wp-volt-gal-title-holder" style="border: 0px; bottom: 9%; box-sizing: border-box; left: 8%; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 503px;">
<div class="wp-volt-gal-title-main" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
JULY 31, 2014 </div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-title-subtitle" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
Thursday</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Residents survey the wreckage of a home hit by an Israeli airstrike in the Tul al-Huwa neighborhood of Gaza City in the Gaza Strip." data-credit="Max Becherer/Polaris Images For The Washington Post" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/31/Others/Images/2014-07-31/07312014_July31_Becherer0031406793666.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3850" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 31, 2014 " data-uuid="d818f1fa-1888-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Residents of central Gaza watch as an Israeli airstrike destroys an apartment building in their central Gaza City neighborhood in the Gaza Strip." data-credit="Max Becherer/Polaris Images For The Washington Post" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/31/Others/Images/2014-07-31/07312014_July31_Becherer0131406820425.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="2828" data-ratio="0.735" data-title="July 31, 2014  " data-uuid="24b680a2-18c7-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Residents of central Gaza watch as an Israeli airstrike destroys an apartment building in their central Gaza City neighborhood." data-credit="Max Becherer/Polaris Images For The Washington Post" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/31/Others/Images/2014-07-31/07312014_July31_Becherer0061406820305.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3850" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 31, 2014  " data-uuid="db75a40e-18c6-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Residents of central Gaza watch as an Israeli airstrike destroys an apartment building." data-credit="Max Becherer/Polaris Images For The Washington Post" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/31/Others/Images/2014-07-31/07312014_July31_Becherer0071406820305.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3850" data-ratio="1.503" data-title="July 31, 2014  " data-uuid="dce10c66-18c6-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Residents look at the damage after watching an Israeli airstrike destroy this apartment building in their central Gaza City neighborhood." data-credit="Max Becherer/Polaris Images For The Washington Post" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/31/Others/Images/2014-07-31/07312014_July31_Becherer0191406820545.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3850" data-ratio="1.49" data-title="July 31, 2014  " data-uuid="6af7dc0a-18c7-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Residents look at the damage after watching an Israeli airstrike destroy this apartment building." data-credit="Max Becherer/Polaris Images For The Washington Post" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/31/Others/Images/2014-07-31/07312014_July31_Becherer0201406820545.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3850" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 31, 2014  " data-uuid="6be2b93c-18c7-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-title" data-uuid="" style="background-position: 0px -10000px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
<div class="wp-volt-gal-title-holder" style="border: 0px; bottom: 9%; box-sizing: border-box; left: 8%; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 503px;">
<div class="wp-volt-gal-title-main" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
JULY 30, 2014 </div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-title-subtitle" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
Wednesday</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A child looks for remains in a classroom where a volley of Israeli rounds struck a school housing thousands of refugees run by the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee agency in the northern Gaza Strip." data-credit="Max Becherer/Polaris Images For The Washington Post" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/morning-mix/201407/Images/07302014_GazaUNSchool_Becherer0111406739546.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="1000" data-ratio="1.499" data-title="July 30, 2014 " data-uuid="6f5aabdc-1887-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Human remains are collected in front of a classroom where a volley of Israeli rounds struck a school housing thousands of refugees in the northern Gaza Strip." data-credit="Max Becherer/Polaris Images For The Washington Post" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Others/Images/2014-07-30/07302014_GazaUNSchool_Becherer0131406739665.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3850" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 30, 2014  " data-uuid="1a72f15a-180b-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Jamal, a brother of Naim Balata, who was killed with his family, walks through the Balata family home where 11 members of the same family were killed in the Jabalya area of the Gaza Strip." data-credit="Max Becherer/Polaris Images For The Washington Post" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/31/Others/Images/2014-07-30/07302014_GazaUNSchool_Becherer0291406775905.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3850" data-ratio="1.45" data-title="July 30, 2014  " data-uuid="7d910552-185f-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Dust shrouds an apartment building after a building behind it was struck by an Israeli airstrike in the al Nasser neighborhood in Gaza City." data-credit="Max Becherer/Polaris Images For The Washington Post" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Others/Images/2014-07-30/07302014_GazaUNSchool_Becherer0041406738826.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3850" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 30, 2014  " data-uuid="286f7e6a-1809-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Residents flee their homes after an Israeli airstrike flattened a building across the street from theirs in their neighborhood of Tal al-Hawa Gaza in Gaza City." data-credit="Max Becherer/Polaris Images For The Washington Post" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Others/Images/2014-07-30/07302014_GazaUNSchool_Becherer0081406739426.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3850" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 30, 2014  " data-uuid="8d5d4400-180a-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian child, wounded in an Israeli strike on a compound housing a U.N. school in the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, receives treatment at Kamal Edwan hospital in Beit Lahia." data-credit="Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/TS-Hkg10085358.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5760" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 30, 2014   " data-uuid="7081366c-17e6-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian child was wounded in an Israeli strike on a compound housing a U.N. school in Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip." data-credit="Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/TS-Hkg10085350.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5256" data-ratio="1.476" data-title="July 30, 2014   " data-uuid="6166bd6e-17e6-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian man holds his son, who was injured when a U.N. school used as a shelter for internally displaced people came under Israeli shelling, at the emergency room of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip. " data-credit="Oliver Weiken/European Pressphoto Agency" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/04335364.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4096" data-ratio="1.499" data-title="July 30, 2014   " data-uuid="3156dd70-17e6-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinians who were wounded in an Israeli strike on a compound housing a U.N. school in Jabalya wait for treatment at the Kamal Edwin hospital in Beit Lahia, where victims from the attack were brought." data-credit="Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/Nic6356040.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5500" data-ratio="1.463" data-title="July 30, 2014  " data-uuid="50bf4c06-17e6-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian boy reacts as he sees the body of a relative who died when a U.N. school used as a shelter for internally displaced people came under Israeli shelling in Jabalya, northern Gaza Strip." data-credit="Oliver Weiken/European Pressphoto Agency" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/04335330.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4096" data-ratio="1.499" data-title="July 30, 2014   " data-uuid="a284660c-17e6-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinians mourn the death of a relative, who died when a U.N. school used as a shelter for internally displaced people came under Israeli shelling in the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip." data-credit="Oliver Weiken/European Pressphoto Agency" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/04335411.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4096" data-ratio="1.499" data-title="July 30, 2014   " data-uuid="1115486c-17e6-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinians look at the Abu Hussein U.N. school in the Jabalya refugee camp." data-credit="Lefteris Pitarakis/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-01364.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="2360" data-ratio="0.674" data-title="July 30, 2014   " data-uuid="7f116b70-17e6-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinians gather outside the Abu Hussein U.N. school after an Israeli strike in the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip." data-credit="Hatem Moussa/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-060a3.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5265" data-ratio="1.528" data-title="July 30, 2014   " data-uuid="8669ccd8-17e5-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinians collect human remains from a classroom inside a U.N. school in the Jabalya refugee camp after the area was hit by shelling." data-credit="Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/TS-Hkg10085371.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3600" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 30, 2014   " data-uuid="6a10ec96-17e6-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Dead animals surround a Palestinian boy as he cares for a wounded horse outside the Abu Hussein United Nations school at the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip after the area was hit by Israeli shelling." data-credit="Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/Nic6356231.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5760" data-ratio="1.526" data-title="July 30 , 2014   " data-uuid="605a8744-17e5-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian man carries his son, whom medics said was wounded in an Israeli airstrike, as he receives treatment at a hospital in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip." data-credit="Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/2014-07-30T065056Z_01_GAZ21_RTRIDSP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3500" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 30 , 2014   " data-uuid="4fa119a4-17e5-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian woman carries her grandson at a hospital in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. " data-credit="Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/2014-07-30T065219Z_01_GAZ20_RTRIDSP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3500" data-ratio="1.603" data-title="July 30 , 2014 " data-uuid="46fcafc0-17e5-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian child, whom medics said was wounded in an Israeli airstrike, receives treatment at a hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip." data-credit="Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/2014-07-30T065018Z_01_GAZ22_RTRIDSP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3500" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 30 , 2014  " data-uuid="409e4148-17e5-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinian rescue workers carry the body of a member of the Duheir family after removing it from under the rubble of their home, which was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike the previous day in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip." data-credit="Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/Nic6356187.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4896" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 30 , 2014   " data-uuid="ac03e3b6-17e5-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinian youths weep as they watch rescue workers remove the body of a dead child from under the rubble of the Duheir family home. " data-credit="Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/Nic6356193.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4896" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 30 , 2014   " data-uuid="b0ef167a-17e5-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A general view shows the collapsed minaret of a destroyed mosque in Gaza City after it was hit in an overnight Israeli strike." data-credit="Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/30/Foreign/Images/Nic6356082.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5528" data-ratio="1.486" data-title="July 30 , 2014   " data-uuid="2a3ac844-17e6-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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JULY 29, 2014  </div>
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Tuesday</div>
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="The home of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza." data-credit="Max Becherer/Polaris Images For The Washington Post" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/29/Others/Images/2014-07-29/07292014_GazaAttack_Becherer0031406651706.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3850" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 29, 2014 " data-uuid="52aed192-173e-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinian firefighters participate in efforts to put out a fire at Gaza's only electricity plant, which witnesses said was hit in Israeli shelling, in the central Gaza Strip." data-credit="Mohammed Salem/Reuters" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/29/Foreign/Images/2014-07-29T093708Z_01_GAZ31_RTRIDSP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA-POWERSTATION.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3500" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 29, 2014 " data-uuid="a950e230-1719-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian man takes a picture of a fire raging at Gaza's main power plant after an overnight Israeli airstrike south of Gaza City." data-credit="Oliver Weiken/European Pressphoto Agency" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/29/Foreign/Images/04334534.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4096" data-ratio="1.499" data-title="July 29, 2014" data-uuid="b70b4758-1719-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian firefighter works to put out a fire at Gaza's main power plant in the central Gaza Strip." data-credit="Mohammed Salem/Reuters" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/29/Foreign/Images/2014-07-29T093426Z_01_GAZ29_RTRIDSP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA-POWERSTATION-14386.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3500" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 29, 2014 " data-uuid="9353f266-1718-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Mourners carry the bodies of Palestinian children, who medics said were killed in an Israeli airstrike that destroyed a house where they were staying, during their funeral in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip." data-credit="Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/29/Foreign/Images/2014-07-29T115556Z_01_GAZ37_RTRIDSP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3500" data-ratio="1.514" data-title="July 29, 2014 " data-uuid="ddea2d26-1719-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian man reacts as people search for victims under the rubble of a house, which witnesses said was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip." data-credit="Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/29/Foreign/Images/2014-07-29T092624Z_01_GAZ25_RTRIDSP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3500" data-ratio="1.394" data-title="July 29, 2014 " data-uuid="c30b95b2-1719-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A relative kisses the forehead of a Palestinian man, who medics said was killed in an Israeli airstrike that destroyed a house where he was staying, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip." data-credit="Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/29/Foreign/Images/2014-07-29T115346Z_01_GAZ37_RTRIDSP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3500" data-ratio="1.579" data-title="July 29, 2014 " data-uuid="9dbb8926-1718-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian inspects the damage to his family’s apartment, after an Israeli strike on a neighboring building housing the offices of the Hamas movement's al-Aqsa satellite television station in Gaza City." data-credit="Lefteris Pitarakis/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/29/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-0c1e0.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5184" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 29, 2014 " data-uuid="e405bf46-1718-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinians look out from the damaged walls of an apartment building near the offices of the Hamas movement's al-Aqsa satellite television station." data-credit="Lefteris Pitarakis/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/29/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-05959.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5184" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 29, 2014 " data-uuid="fe13d210-1718-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinians from a neighboring apartment building carry out debris as they walk on the rubble of the offices of the Hamas movement's al-Aqsa satellite television station." data-credit="Lefteris Pitarakis/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/29/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-01569.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5184" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 29, 2014 " data-uuid="e3e0271c-1719-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo wp-volt-gal-item-loaded" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian man inspects a collapsed transmission tower following an overnight airstrike in Gaza City." data-credit="Oliver Weiken/European Pressphoto Agency" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/29/Foreign/Images/04334575.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4096" data-ratio="1.499" data-title="July 29, 2014 " data-uuid="6d10909a-1719-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/29/Foreign/Images/04334575.jpg?env=A); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Explosions caused by Israeli airstrikes erupt in the Jabal al-Rayyes neighborhood of Gaza." data-credit="Max Becherer/Polaris Images For The Washington Post" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/29/Others/Images/2014-07-29/07292014_GazaAttack_Becherer0131406652065.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3850" data-ratio="1.589" data-title=" July 29, 2014 " data-uuid="24c5bea2-173f-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;">
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">The strikes continued even after condemnation for the Israeli shelling of a U.N.-run school sheltering evacuees from the Gaza conflict that killed at least 16 people and wounded dozens of others as they slept, according to Palestinian health officials and the U.N. agency in charge of the school.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">During this conflict, Deif’s profile has risen sharply. Palestinians were glued to their television sets last Tuesday when a fiery prerecorded audio statement said to be from Deif was played on Hamas’s Al-Aqsa network. Shown as a shadowy image seated in a chair, Deif declared there would be no cease-fire in Gaza unless Israel lifts an economic blockade of the enclave and opens border crossings.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">“What the air force and your artillery shelling has failed to accomplish will not be accomplished by ground forces,” the man purported to be Deif said. “You are sending your soldiers to a definite slaughterhouse, God willing.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">“The Zionist entity will not know security unless the Palestinian people live in peace,” he added.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">One Israeli analyst, Avi Issacharoff, wrote in the Times of Israel newspaper that Deif’s statement, peppered with Koranic slogans, was meant “to create the sense that this was a sacred message, and his voice echoed as though he were a living saint.” It represented “a personal victory for Deif in his struggle for supremacy” within Hamas, Issacharoff wrote.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">Born in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis enclave, Deif was introduced as a teenager to the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas would later become an offshoot. In the 1980s, he studied science at the Islamic University of Gaza, where he deepened his involvement with the Islamist movement.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">He set up a theater group called The Returners, a reference to the Palestinian refugees yearning to return to lands they owned before the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Deif kept up his acting after he joined Hamas, sometimes playing small roles in propaganda videos, said Avi Melamed, a Middle East expert at the Eisenhower Institute in Washington.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">In 1990, Israel arrested Deif for his involvement with Hamas but later released him. Soon after, he helped found al-Qassam Brigades, along with Falouji and others. Deif quickly became known for his patience and his grasp of weaponry, and he played an instrumental role in developing Hamas’s capabilities, especially in the fields of rockets and bombs.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">After Israeli agents killed his mentor, Yahya Ayash, in 1996 with a cellphone packed with explosives, Deif’s role in building up Hamas’s arsenal expanded. That was when he also began to lower his profile to avoid assassination, analysts said.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">“He went off the radar around 20 years ago,” said Hamza Abu Shanab, a political analyst, whose father was a Hamas founder and senior leader in Gaza before Israeli forces assassinated him in 2003.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">In 2002, at the height of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, Deif was appointed head of al-Qassam Brigades after Israel killed his predecessor. Israel considers him the architect of a lethal campaign of suicide attacks on buses and public areas that lasted until the mid-2000s.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">By then, Deif was already working on Hamas’s long-term strategy against Israel.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">He oversaw committees that sought ways to increase financing and arms deliveries from Iran and other places and to develop and build sophisticated rockets in Gaza. He created a force of trained fighters who could go into combat and return without blowing themselves up. The building of tunnels was also his brainchild, analysts said.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">“He has said for a while that Hamas’s war needs to be moved into Israeli territory, and he came up with the strategy of the tunnels,” Melamed said.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">Despite his enhanced stature, Deif has no desire to replace Meshal as Hamas’s top leader, according to analysts. The elusive warrior, who rarely speaks in public, would need to run in elections inside the movement, increasing his visibility — and Israel’s ability to assassinate him.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">“Political life does not serve his ambitions,” Abu Shanab said. “He only wants to overthrow the Israeli occupation through armed resistance.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">Griff Witte and Ruth Eglash in Jerusalem contributed to this report.</span></span></div>
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</article><div class="post-body-sig-line" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/sudarsan-raghavan/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><img class="post-body-headshot-left" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2011/02/15/PH2011021501823.jpg&h=90&w=90" style="border: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); float: left; margin: 24px 24px 24px 0px; max-width: 90px;" /></span></a><div class="post-body-bio has-photo" style="margin: 24px 0px 24px 105px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">Sudarsan Raghavan has been The Post's bureau chief in Africa since 2010. He began his career as a foreign correspondent in Africa, and covered the Iraq war as Baghdad bureau chief.</span></span></div>
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Mohammed Deif, the shadowy figure who heads Hamas’s military wing

Gaza City, Gaza Strip: The home of Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh was destroyed over night by Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday, July 29, 2014. A...

Mohammed Deif, the shadowy figure who heads Hamas’s military wing

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