Marwan Issa
{{Short description|Hamas military commander (1965–2024)}}
{{protection padlock|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Marwan Issa
| caption = Artwork of Marwan Issa
| native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|ar|مروان عيسى}}}}
| image =
| birth_name = Marwan Abdel Karim Ali Issa
| birth_date = {{Birth date text|1965}}
| birth_place = Bureij, Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2024|3|10|1965|||df=yes}}
| death_place = Nuseirat, Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Palestine
| death_cause = Assassination by airstrike
| nationality = Palestinian
| other_names = Shadow Man, Abu Baraa
| known_for = Being the deputy commander of Al-Qassam Brigades
| children = 4 (2 deceased)
| parents =
| burial_place = New Bureij Cemetery, Palestine
}}
{{Hamas history}}
Marwan Abdel Karim Ali Issa ({{langx|ar|مروان عبد الكريم علي عيسى}}; 1965 – 10 March 2024) was a Palestinian militant who was the deputy commander of Hamas' military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades.
Issa was born in the Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip in 1965. He was educated at the Islamic University of Gaza, and played basketball for Al-Bureij Services Club. He was arrested in 1987 during the First intifada for his involvement with Hamas. He was detained by the Palestinian Authority from 1997 to 2000, and released after the outbreak of the Second Intifada.
He became the head of the Qassam Brigades in the refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip and played a central role in the development of its military systems. He reported to Mohammed Deif. He was placed on the terror watchlist of the United States in 2019 and the European Union in 2023.{{Cite web |title=Executive Order 13224 |url=https://www.state.gov/executive-order-13224/ |access-date=28 October 2023|website=state.gov |publisher=United States Department of State |language=en}}{{cite news |title=EU adds Hamas military chiefs Mohammed Deif, Marwan Issa to terror blacklist |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/eu-adds-hamas-military-chiefs-mohammed-deif-marwan-issa-to-terror-blacklist/ |work=The Times of Israel |agency=AFP |date=2023-12-08}} Issa was said to have had a major role in planning the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel. On 17 March 2024, he was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Nuseirat during the Gaza war.
Early life
Issa was born in the Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip in 1965, where his family had moved from Ashkelon after they fled or were expelled when Israel was established in 1948.{{cite web |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/palestine-israel/2024/03/19/who-was-senior-hamas-military-leader-marwan-issa/ |work=The National |first=Mona|last=Farag |access-date=19 March 2024 |date=18 March 2024 |title=Who was senior Hamas military leader Marwan Issa?}} He was educated at the Islamic University of Gaza, and played basketball for Al-Bureij Services Club. In 1987, he was arrested during the First intifada.
He was later detained by the Palestinian Authority from 1997 to 2000, but released after the outbreak of the Second Intifada.{{Cite web |date=17 October 2023 |title=Israel Gaza war: Who are the most prominent leaders of Hamas? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67103298 |access-date=17 October 2023 |website=BBC News |first=Lina|last=Alshawabkeh |language=en-GB}}
Leadership in Hamas
Issa became the head of the Qassam Brigades in the refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip and played a central role in the development of their military systems.{{Cite news |last=Halabi |first=Einav |date=2024-03-12 |title=This is Marwan Issa, the wanted man likely killed by Israel |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r1id4ntt6 |access-date=2024-03-17 |work=Ynetnews |language=en}} Issa was later one of Israel's most wanted militants. He was seriously wounded in an Israeli assassination attempt during a 2006 meeting also attended by Deif and other top Qassam Brigade commanders.{{Cite news |title=Report: Marwan Issa to Replace Jaabri |publisher=Arutz Sheva |date=15 November 2012 |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/254884 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121118062930/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/254884 |archive-date=18 November 2012 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Halabi |first1=Einav |title=Most wanted: Key Hamas figures in Israel's crosshairs |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/article/skedpi8fp |access-date=11 December 2023 |work=Ynetnews |date=2023-10-25}}
Issa rarely appeared in public, but in 2011, he was photographed at a reception for those released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange. Issa was a member of the Hamas team negotiating the exchange with Ahmed Jabari, Saleh al-Arouri, and Nizar Awadallah.{{cite news |title=Elections to the Hamas Political Bureau in the Gaza Strip: Overview and Significance |url=https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/Data/articles/Art_21158/E_035_17_312810974.pdf |access-date=11 December 2023 |publisher=Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center |date=2017-02-22}} Issa's home was bombed in 2014 and 2021.
As Deif's second-in-command, Issa was closely involved in planning the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. During the Gaza war, Issa was one of Israel's three most wanted Hamas militants, alongside Yahya Sinwar and Muhammed Deif, the three forming a military council. Issa would replace Sinwar or Deif if either was killed.{{cite news |last1=Nakhoul |first1=Samia |title=Insight: Israel's most wanted: the three Hamas leaders in Gaza it aims to kill |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-most-wanted-three-hamas-commanders-gaza-it-must-kill-2023-12-01/ |access-date=11 December 2023 |work=Reuters |date=2023-12-01}} The European Union linked Issa directly to the attack and placed Issa and Deif on its terrorist blacklist on 8 December.
According to Tamir Hayman, former head of Israel's Institute for National Security Studies and former head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Issa played a crucial strategic role in the organization that went beyond military matters. Hayman described him as "the strategic mind of Hamas" and highlighted Issa's influence as a close confidant of Sinwar, acting as a stabilizing force and facilitating connections within the Hamas leadership.
Issa was designated as a terrorist by the United States on 10 September 2019.
Personal life
Issa's eldest son Baraa died in 2009, aged nine, after he was refused passage from the Gaza Strip for medical treatment in Egypt.{{Cite news |last=Vasilyeva |first=Nataliya |date=2024-03-11 |title=Hamas leader 'Shadow Man' may have been killed in Israeli air strike |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/11/israel-investigates-hamas-leader-killed-in-air-strike/ |access-date=2024-08-25 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}} Another son, Muhammad, was killed in 2023 in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza during the Hamas War.{{cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-779884|title=Son of Hamas leader Marwan Issa killed in IDF strike|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=28 December 2023|access-date=20 March 2024}}
Death
{{Main|Assassination of Marwan Issa}}
On 11 March 2024, Israel announced the targeting of an underground facility in Nuseirat, central Gaza, used by Issa, airing footage of the strike and noting that the results were still being analyzed. Five Palestinians were reportedly killed in the bombing.{{Cite web |last=Fabian |first=Emanuel |date=March 11, 2024 |title=IDF airs footage of strike on Hamas's No. 3, but says still unclear if he was killed |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-airs-footage-of-strike-on-hamass-no-3-but-says-still-unclear-if-he-was-killed/ |website=The Times of Israel}} Hamas, which had not disclosed much about its senior military leaders during the war, did not immediately respond.
On 17 March 2024, it was reported that Hamas had confirmed in private that Issa had been killed in the strike. At the time of his killing, Issa was the highest-ranking Hamas commander to be killed in the war.{{Cite news |last=Rasgon |first=Adam |date=2024-03-11 |title=Israel Says It Targeted Marwan Issa, a Top Hamas Leader in Gaza |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/world/middleeast/israel-strike-marwan-issa-hamas.html |access-date=2024-03-17 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly hailed the news as "a great achievement for Israel" and stated "they will all die, we will reach them all."{{Cite web |date=March 16, 2024 |title=Reports: Ministers told signs point to successful hit on Hamas number 3 Marwan Issa |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/reports-ministers-told-signs-point-to-successful-hit-on-hamas-number-3-marwan-issa/ |website=The Times of Israel}}
On 18 March 2024, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed Issa's death.{{cite news |title=US confirms Israel killed Hamas no 3 Marwan Issa |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/us-confirms-israel-killed-hamas-no-3-marwan-issa/ |website=The Times of Israel |first=Jacob|last=Magid |date=March 18, 2024 |access-date=March 19, 2024}}
On 26 March 2024, the Israel Defense Forces officially confirmed Issa's death.{{cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-confirms-top-hamas-commander-marwan-issa-killed-in-airstrike-earlier-this-month/|title=IDF confirms: Top Hamas commander Marwan Issa killed in airstrike earlier this month|work=The Times of Israel|first=Emanuel|last=Fabian|date=26 March 2024|access-date=26 March 2024}}
Initially, Hamas did not confirm or deny Issa's death publicly. On 19 January 2025, Hamas officially confirmed that Marwan Issa has been killed.{{cite web|url= https://m.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-838289 | title= Senior Hamas official confirms elimination of Marwan Issa
| date= 11 January 2025|work= JP}} This was later affirmed in a speech by Abu Obaida, the spokesperson for the Qassam Brigades, which serves as the armed wing of Hamas.{{Cite web |date=30 January 2025 |title=Hamas' armed wing announces killing of its military leader |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-armed-wing-announces-killing-its-military-leader-2025-01-30/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250130172852/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-armed-wing-announces-killing-its-military-leader-2025-01-30/ |archive-date=30 January 2025 |access-date=30 January 2025 |website=Reuters}}{{cite news |last=Staff |first= |title=Six months late: Hamas admits that Mohammad Deif was killed |language=he |publisher=Walla News|date=January 30, 2025 |url=https://news.walla.co.il/item/3723451 |accessdate=January 30, 2025 }}
The Qassam Brigades held a funeral service for Marwan Issa on 7 February 2025, and he was buried in his birthplace of Bureij.{{cite web|url= https://www.aljazeera.net/amp/politics/2025/2/7/مخيم-البريج-يودع-نائب-قائد-القسام | title= مخيم البريج يودّع نائب قائد القسام مروان عيسى
| date= 7 February 2025|work= AJ}}
References
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{{Gaza war}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Issa, Marwan}}
Category:Hamas military members
Category:Deaths by Israeli airstrikes during the Israel–Hamas war
Category:Assassinated Hamas members
Category:Military personnel killed in the Israel–Hamas war
Category:People from the Gaza Strip