Birth: NULL/NULL/1962 Death:NULL/NULL/NULL
Born in the Shati RC, Gaza, in 1962 to refugee parents from Al-Jora (near Asqalan); studied at UNRWA schools and the Azhar Institute in Gaza; enrolled at the Arab Language Dept. of the Islamic University in Gaza in 1981 and graduated with a BA in Education in 1986; worked in the university’s Islamic Bloc from 1981; was a member of the university’s Student Council in 1983-84 and its elected head in 1985-86; was a close associate of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin; joined Hamas, for which he was arrested and imprisoned by Israel for 18 days in 1987 and for six months in 1988; was arrested again after his release and sentenced to three years in prison in May 1989 (together with Sheikh Ahmad Yassin); served as member and Sec. of the Board of Trustees of the Islamic University, and as its Director of Administrative Affairs and of Academic Affairs; was Chairman of the Islamic Society Club in Gaza from 1990-2000; was among the deportees to Marj Az-Zuhur, South Lebanon, in Dec. 1992; following the release of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in 1997, served as his top aide and bureau chief (until Yassin’s assassination in March 2004); Hamas politburo member; is considered Hamas’ main administrator in Gaza and as more pragmatic than other Hamas leaders; has acted as Hamas’ go-between with the PA; was involved in the summer 2003 hudna talks with other Palestinian factions and the PA; survived an assassination attempt by Israel while accompanying Sheikh Ahmad Yassin on 6 Sept. 2003; was elected as PLC member (number one on the Change and Reform list) in the Jan. 2006 elections and was subsequently elected as new Prime Minister; also serves as Minister of Youth and Sports.
