Birth: NULL/NULL/1952 Death:NULL/NULL/2002
Born in Al-Shati’ (Beach) Refugee Camp, Gaza Strip, on 24 Feb. 1952 to a refugee family originally from Jaffa; family moved to Beit Hanoun, where he attended the Jaffa Secondary School, then the Palestine Secondary School in Gaza; enrolled at the Higher Institute for Social Service in Alexandria, graduating with a BA in 1972; joined the Muslim Brotherhood while in Alexandria; went back to Beit Hanoun; on his way to Alexandria University to continue his studies towards an MA, was returned by Egyptian intelligence because of his Islamic affiliation; worked as a social researcher and as a preacher (khatib) in Beit Hanoun; then worked as a social worker in El-Arish, Sinai, where he was later appointed as supervisor of social affairs; was transferred in that post to Gaza after Sinai was returned to Egypt in 1979; resigned in 1982 after disputes with Israeli managers; worked on Islamic Da’wa (religious preaching); then became Director of Students Affairs Dept. at the Islamic University of Gaza; was arrested by the Israeli authorities in 1984 for suspicion of committing anti-Zionist activities and jailed for two years without being charged; after being released in 1986, resumed his work at the Islamic University until it was closed by Israel during the first Intifada in 1988; co-founded Hamas in 1987 and became leader of its military wing, Izz Eddin Al-Qassam; was arrested again in Aug. 1988 and imprisoned for resistance activities for 12 years until 14 May 2000; was a personal aide to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and seen as his possible future heir by many; was accused by Israel to be the mastermind behind many attacks against Israeli targets and the production of “Qassam” rockets during the second Intifada; was as such on Israel’s most-wanted list; escaped several Israeli assassination attempts and spent long periods underground; was eventually assassinated on 23 July 2002, when an Israeli warplane dropped a bomb on the house in which he was living in a crowded Gaza City neighborhood (killing another 14 people, incl. his wife and one of his children, as well as injuring over 150 others).
