A senior leader of Palestinian group Hamas who has survived multiple assassination attempts is in far better condition than Israeli intelligence had indicated, video has reportedly shown.
The Israeli military acquired several videos from the Gaza Strip through "intelligence gathering", Israeli media reported Tuesday, including video of the leader of Hamas' armed wing — the Al-Qassam Brigades — Mohammed Deif.
Israel had said that its intelligence indicated that Deif needed to use a wheelchair, was cared for by nurses, and could only travel in ambulances, after injuries incurred in one of several Israeli assassination attempts, Maariv .
But one of the recently retrieved videos showed Deif walking around with only a slight limp, according to the Israeli outlet.
"The fact that Deif is alive, functioning and in relatively good shape, and is even able to walk on his own... stands in complete contradiction to the intelligence assessments detailed in his case from recent years," Maariv said.
Israeli officials have reportedly since said that both Israeli military and intelligence knew that Deif was in fact in good health, and that the video of a mobile Deif was no surprise.
Deif has kept a low profile for several years, though he was on occasion re-emerged to make threats to Israel. He warned in 2021 that Israel would face serious repercussions for expelling Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem.
His wife and infant son were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza in 2014, according to Hamas.
His brother was reportedly killed when Israel struck the military leader's family home last month, during its ongoing brutal assault on Gaza that has so far killed almost 20,000 Palestinians.
Since launching its latest offensive on 7 October, Israel has stepped up its plans to assassinate senior leaders of Hamas, the group that has controlled the Palestinian territory for more than 15 years.