During a Friday raid of the home of Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al Qassam Brigades, in southern Gaza, the 82nd Battalion of the IDF’s 7th Brigade found the arch-terrorist’s Palestinian ID card, Israeli media reported.
The ID card, which was printed with both Hebrew and Arabic text, was found along with several copies of the documents including an appendix with the names and birth dates of his children.
During the raid, the fighters discovered a shaft in the yard of the house, and documentation of the site indicates that it had been used to store weapons.
The soldiers who conducted the raid subsequently posed for a photograph inside the house with an Israeli flag.
Deif's house destroyed
Upon concluding their investigation of the site, the IDF troops proceeded to demolish the compound with a controlled explosion.
A report from earlier this week revealed that the IDF produced footage of Deif that suggested the Hamas leader was in better physical condition than previously thought by Israel.
Deif, who has survived seven assassination attempts, some of which left him seriously wounded, was reportedly walking around with nothing beyond a small limp.
Four of the attempts on Deif’s life occurred during 2014’s Operation Protective Edge.
Further, earlier this month, the IDF dropped leaflets in Gaza offering rewards exceeding $100,000 to anyone who would provide reliable information regarding the locations of senior Hamas leaders, including Mohammed Deif.
This past week, speaking on the revelation of Deif’s unexpectedly good physical condition, MK Simcha Rothman of the Religious Zionist Party described the information as indicative of broad intelligence failure.