Mustafa Hafez (1920-1956) was an Egyptian military intelligence officer and colonel in the Egyptian Army who rose to prominence during the mid-20th century. Born on December 25, 1920, in Egypt, Hafez was appointed by President Gamal Abdel Nasser as the head of Egyptian military intelligence in Gaza, where he organized and led fedayeen (guerrilla fighter) operations. He recruited Palestinian refugees to carry out cross-border raids and attacks on both military and civilian targets in southern Israel throughout the early to mid-1950s, escalating tensions in the region and contributing to the cycle of retaliatory violence between Egypt and Israel. Hafez's leadership in these campaigns made him a high-priority target for Israeli intelligence. On July 11, 1956, he was assassinated in Gaza by Israeli agents using a book bomb concealed in a volume titled 'The History of the Muslim Conquests,' marking one of the earliest documented instances of targeted assassination by Israel. His death occurred mere months before the Suez Crisis of October 1956, in which Israel, along with Britain and France, invaded Egypt. Hafez's activities and demise underscore the shadowy intelligence operations and proxy warfare that characterized the period's conflicts, highlighting his role as a key figure in Nasser's strategy to challenge Israeli security through asymmetric tactics.