Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas' navy wing in Gaza and the alleged mastermind of the October 7 assault in southern Israel, was confirmed lifeless on Monday by a senior US official after a Israeli air strike greater than per week in the past.
Jake Sullivan, the nationwide safety adviser of the USA, informed reporters that Mr. Issa, one of the senior officers of Hamas, had been killed. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari mentioned on March 11 that Israeli warplanes had focused Mr. Issa and one other Hamas official in an underground compound in central Gaza.
Along with his loss of life, Mr. Issa, who had been amongst Israel's most needed males, turned essentially the most senior Hamas chief to be killed in Gaza for the reason that struggle started. Israeli officers characterised the strike as a breakthrough of their marketing campaign to take away the Hamas management in Gaza.
However consultants warned that his loss of life wouldn’t have a devastating impact on the management construction of Hamas. Israel has killed Hamas political and navy leaders previously, solely to see them rapidly changed.
Right here's a more in-depth have a look at Mr. Issa and what his loss of life means for Hamas and its management.
What was Mr. Issa's position in Hamas?
Mr. Issa, who was 58 or 59 on the time of his loss of life, had served since 2012 as deputy to Mohammed Deif, the elusive chief of the Qassam Brigades, the navy wing of Hamas. Mr. Issa took over the position after the assassination of one other commander, Ahmed al-Jabari.
Mr. Issa served each on Hamas's navy council and in its Gaza political workplace, overseen by Yahya Sinwar, the group's high official within the enclave. Mr. Issa has been described by Palestinian analysts and former Israeli safety officers as an essential strategist who performed a key position as a hyperlink between the navy and political leaders of Hamas.
Salah al-Din al-Awawdeh, a Palestinian analyst near Hamas, described Mr Issa's place within the group as “a part of the highest rank of the management of the navy wing”.
Main Normal Tamir Hayman, the previous head of Israeli navy intelligence, mentioned Mr Issa was concurrently Hamas's “protection minister”, its deputy navy commander and its “strategic thoughts”.
What does his loss of life imply for the group?
Specialists described Mr Issa as an essential affiliate of Mr Deif and Mr Sinwar, though they mentioned his loss of life didn’t signify a menace to the group's survival.
“There’s at all times a substitute,” mentioned Mr. Awawdeh. “I don't assume the killing of any member of the navy wing can have any impact on their actions.”
Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli navy intelligence officer and professional on Palestinian affairs, mentioned Mr. Issa's loss of life was a big blow to the Qassam Brigades, though he conceded that it was not ” the tip of the world” for Hamas.
“He had lots of expertise,” Mr. Milshtein mentioned. “His loss of life is a good loss for Hamas, however it isn’t a loss that may result in its collapse and it’ll not have an effect on it for a very long time. In per week or two, they may overcome it.
Mr. Milshtein added that though Mr. Issa's opinion was valued on the highest ranges of Hamas, the truth that he didn’t immediately command the fighters meant that his loss of life didn’t depart a gap within the operations of Hamas.
How was it described?
Mr. Issa was a lesser-known member of Hamas' high brass, preserving a low profile and barely showing in public.
Gerhard Conrad, a former German intelligence officer who met Mr. Issa greater than a decade in the past, described him as a “resolute and quiet” particular person with no charisma. “He wasn't very eloquent, however he knew what they had been saying, and he was proper to the purpose,” Mr. Conrad mentioned in an interview.
Mr Conrad mentioned he met Mr Issa, Mr al-Jabari and Mahmoud al-Zahar, one other Hamas official, about ten instances between 2009 and 2011 in Gaza Metropolis. The lads met in an effort to alternate a prisoner between Israel and Hamas.
“He was the grasp of information on prisoners,” Mr. Conrad mentioned of Mr. Issa. “He had all of the names to be negotiated.”
Mr. Conrad, nevertheless, mentioned it was obvious on the time that Mr. Issa was a subordinate of Mr. al-Jabari. “He was type of a chief of workers,” he mentioned.
It was solely after the assassination of Mr. al-Jabari that Mr. Issa's prominence grew, however he was nonetheless eager to remain out of sight. Few photos of Mr. Issa are within the public area.
Mr. Awawdeh, the analyst, referred to as Mr. Issa a person who appreciated to “stay within the shadows” and who not often granted interviews to the media.
In certainly one of these uncommon interviews, Mr. Issa spoke in 2021 about his position within the oblique talks that resulted in Israel exchanging greater than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for a single Israeli soldier, Sgt. First Class Gilad Shalit, and his hopes for a future battle with Israel.
“Even when the resistance in Palestine is monitored by the enemy in any respect hours, it’s going to shock the enemy,” he informed Al Jazeera on the time.
In a separate interview with a Hamas publication in 2005, Mr. Issa praised the militants who raided Israeli settlements and navy bases, calling the actions “heroic” and an “superior exercise.”
What is understood about his formative years?
Mr. Issa was born within the Bureij space of central Gaza in 1965, however his household originated from what’s now the Ashkelon space of Israel.
A member of Hamas for many years, he was concerned with the militant group concerned in persecuting Palestinians believed to have collaborated with Israel, based on Mr. Awawdeh.
Mr. Issa hung out in prisons operated by Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Admiral Hagari mentioned Mr. Issa helped plan the October 7 assault led by Hamas. Mr. Issa can be believed to have deliberate operations aimed toward infiltrating Israeli settlements in the course of the second intifada within the 2000s, Mr. Milshtein mentioned.
March 18, 2024
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An earlier model of this text misstated the identify of a former Israeli navy intelligence chief. That's Normal Tamir Hayman, not Heyman.
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