Ayman Nofal | |
|---|---|
| أيمن نوفل | |
| Born | (1974-05-13)13 May 1974 |
| Died | 17 October 2023(2023-10-17) (aged 49) Bureij,Gaza Strip |
| Nationality | Palestinian |
Ayman Nofal (Arabic:أيمن نوفل; 13 May 1974 – 17 October 2023) was a Palestinian senior commander inAl-Qassam Brigades, the militant arm ofHamas. Nofal was a member of the group's General Military Council, head of its Central Gaza Brigade, and head of air operations. He was killed during theGaza war.
By 2008, Nofal was a leader in theAl-Qassam Brigades, as a field commander in central Gaza.[1] Nofal was arrested along with 200 other Palestinians in the northern Egyptian city ofAl-Arish in theSinai Peninsula byEgyptian security forces in early 2008. After Palestinian militants blasted open a hole in theEgypt-Gaza barrier in protest of Egypt's cooperation with Israel in January 2008, hundreds of Palestinians, including Nofal, crossed the border into Egypt.[1]
While many of the other Palestinian border crossers were released, as a wanted person by Israel, Nofal remained in Egyptian custody. According toAl Jazeera, Egyptian authorities believed Nofal was planning to kill members ofFatah or was involved in weapons smuggling from Egypt to Gaza. Hamas denied Nofal's involvement in these activities. Egyptian authorities were reportedly interested in Nofal's knowledge of Hamas' missile capabilities, the location of captured Israeli soldierGilad Shalit, and locations of senior Hamas militant leaders such asMohammed Deif andAhmed al-Jabari.[2] Nofal escaped from al-Marj Prison[3] in February 2011 during the2011 Egyptian revolution. Nofal was smuggled back to Gaza via asmuggling tunnel and received a hero's welcome from Hamas upon his return.[1]
After Ahmed Jabari was killed in an airstrike in November 2012, as part ofOperation Pillar of Defense, Nofal was considered as a possible successor as Hamas's military chief. Other possible successors included Imad Akel, Central Brigade commanderAhmed Ghandour, andMohammed Abu-Shamala.[4]
Nofal led thePalestinian Joint Operations Room,[5] an alliance ofPalestinian nationalist factions, including Islamic and secular groups.[6]
By 2023, Nofal was a member of the Al-Qassam Brigades's General Military Council. In this role, he also directed its relations with other militant organizations via thePalestinian Joint Operations Room.[7] During theGaza war, Nofal was a commander of the Central Gaza Brigade.[8][9]
On 17 October 2023, a statement from Hamas confirmed his death in an airstrike.[10][11] According to the IDF, on 17 October, he was killed in an airstrike.[12] Sources from the Israeli military said that in order to kill Nofal the military knowingly authorized a strike that they knew would kill approximately 300 other people.[13][14] Four multi-story apartment buildings were destroyed in the strike.[13] Only 70 bodies were recovered from the site on the first day, but locals in Gaza continued digging through the ruble of the building for 5 days, and believed some bodies remind under the ruble months later in April 2024.[13]
After his death, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Nofal aSpecially Designated Global Terrorist for his role on Hamas's General Military Council and as its commander of military relations.[15]
Ayman Nofal. He was the commander of Gaza's central brigade. And the source claimed that the military knowingly authorized to kill 300 Palestinian civilians alongside this target. 300 people. And we spoke to Palestinians who were witnesses of that attack, because the IDF, you know, the IDF published footage of the attack and we managed to geolocate it to where it was. And indeed, four multi-story buildings filled with apartments were bombed on the families that were inside. ... And Palestinians who talked to us, you know, said that they found 70 people dead in the first day, and for five days continuously, they took people out of the rubble.
In order to assassinate Ayman Nofal, the commander of Hamas' Central Gaza Brigade, a source said the army authorized the killing of approximately 300 civilians, destroying several buildings in airstrikes on Al-Bureij refugee camp on Oct. 17, based on an imprecise pinpointing of Nofal.
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