Marwan Issa | |
|---|---|
| مروان عيسى | |
 | |
| Born | Marwan Abdel Karim Ali Issa 1965 (1965) |
| Died | 10 March 2024(2024-03-10) (aged 58–59) Nuseirat,Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Palestine |
| Cause of death | Assassination by airstrike |
| Burial place | New Bureij Cemetery,Palestine |
| Other names | Shadow Man, Abu Baraa |
| Known for | Being the deputy commander ofAl-Qassam Brigades |
| Children | 4 (2 deceased) |
Marwan Abdel Karim Ali Issa (Arabic:مروان عبد الكريم علي عيسى,romanized: Marwān ʿAbd al-Karīm ʿAlī ʿĪsā; 1965 – 10 March 2024) was aPalestinian militant who was the deputy commander ofHamas' military wing,Al-Qassam Brigades.
Issa was born in theBureij refugee camp in theGaza Strip in 1965. He was educated at theIslamic University of Gaza, and played basketball for Al-Bureij Services Club. He was arrested in 1987 during theFirst intifada for his involvement with Hamas.[1] He was detained by thePalestinian Authority from 1997 to 2000, and released after the outbreak of theSecond Intifada.[2]
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 toMohammed Deif.[3] He was placed on the terror watchlist of the United States in 2019 and the European Union in 2023.[4][5] Issa was said to have had a major role in planning the7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel. On 10 March 2024, he waskilled in an Israeli airstrike in Nuseirat during theGaza war.[1]
Issa was born in theBureij refugee camp in theGaza Strip in 1965,[3] where his family had moved fromAshkelon after theyfled or were expelled when Israel was established in 1948.[1] He was educated at theIslamic University of Gaza, and played basketball for Al-Bureij Services Club. In 1987, he was arrested during theFirst intifada.[1]
He was later detained by thePalestinian Authority from 1997 to 2000, but released after the outbreak of theSecond Intifada.[2]
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.[3][6] 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.[2][7][8]
Issa rarely appeared in public, but in 2011, he was photographed at a reception for those released in theGilad Shalit prisoner exchange. Issa was a member of the Hamas team negotiating the exchange withAhmed Jabari,Saleh al-Arouri, andNizar Awadallah.[3][2][9] Issa's home was bombed in 2014 and 2021.[8]
As Deif's second-in-command, Issa was closely involved in planning the2023 Hamas attack on Israel.[2][8] During theGaza war, Issa was one of Israel's three most wanted Hamas militants, alongsideYahya Sinwar and Muhammed Deif, the three forming a military council. Issa would replace Sinwar or Deif if either was killed.[9] TheEuropean Union linked Issa directly to the attack and placed Issa and Deif on its terrorist blacklist on 8 December.[5]
According toTamir Hayman, former head of Israel'sInstitute for National Security Studies and former head of theMilitary 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.[6]
Issa was designated as a terrorist by the United States on 10 September 2019.[4]
Issa's eldest son Baraa died in 2009, aged nine, after he was refused passage from the Gaza Strip for medical treatment in Egypt.[10][1] Another son, Muhammad, was killed in 2023 in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza during the Hamas War.[11]
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.[12] Hamas, which had not disclosed much about its senior military leaders during the war, did not immediately respond.[13]
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.[13] Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu reportedly hailed the news as "a great achievement for Israel" and stated "they will all die, we will reach them all."[14]
On 18 March 2024, White House National Security AdvisorJake Sullivan confirmed Issa's death.[15]
On 26 March 2024, theIsrael Defense Forces officially confirmed Issa's death.[16]
Initially, Hamas did not confirm or deny Issa's death publicly. On 19 January 2025, Hamas officially confirmed that Marwan Issa has been killed.[17] This was later affirmed in a speech byAbu Obaida, the spokesperson for the Qassam Brigades, which serves as the armed wing of Hamas.[18][19]
The Qassam Brigades held a funeral service for Marwan Issa on 7 February 2025, and he was buried in his birthplace of Bureij.[20]
