senior leader and second-in-command of the military wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades
1960 CE
to 2012 CE
Ahmed al-Jabari (1960 – November 14, 2012; also known as Abu Mohammad (the last name is otherwise also written as Jaabari or Ja'bari or Ja'abari) is a senior leader and second-in-command of the military wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
He is widely credited as the leader in the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, and commands the 2006 Hamas cross border raid that results in the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Under his command, along with chief logistics officer Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Hamas significantly develops its own military weapons capability by acquiring longer-range guided missiles and rockets.
While at the Islamic University of Gaza, Jabari ]had joined Fatah, which advocates armed struggle against Israel.
In 1982, he was arrested by the Israeli authorities and imprisoned for thirteen years.
After being released, hehad joined Fatah's Islamist rival Hamas' militant wing and was believed to have been involved in the bombing of a bus in Kfar Darom, following which he was arrested by the Preventive Security Force of the Palestinian Authority in 1998, being released the following year.
In 2002, Jabari becomes the acting operational head of Hamas' military wing when Mohammad Deif is seriously wounded in an Israeli airstrike.
In this position Jabari is also a high-ranking official within Hamas' political leadership, as well as the founder of the Nur Association, which aims to help "martyrs and prisoners."
The Israeli Air Force and Shin Bet conduct a targeted precision air strike on November 14, 2012, a part of Operation Pillar of Defense, killing Jabari while he is travellig in a car.
The decision to liquidate him, according to Haaretz analyst, Reuven Pedatzur, arose from a decision by Israeli military to attack Hamas rather than seek a ceasefire.
Jabari is the highest-level Hamas official killed in Gaza since the 2008 Gaza War.
