Jamal Abu Samhadana
Jamal Abu Samhadana (Arabic: جمال أبو سمهدانة, 8 February 1963 – 8 June 2006), from Rafah in the Gaza Strip, was the founder and leader of the Popular Resistance Committees (which have been held responsible for firing missiles into Israel),[1] a former Fatah and Tanzim member, and number two on Israel's list of wanted terrorists.
Abu Samhadana survived an Israeli missile strike in the Gaza Strip in December 2004[2] but was killed by the Israeli Air Force on 8 June 2006.
Appointment as chief of Executive Force
On 20 April 2006, Abu Samhadana was appointed Director General of the Executive Force, a new security forces in Gaza, by Said Seyam, Interior Minister of the Palestinian National Authority's new Hamas-led government.[3][4] Abu Samhadana was quoted as saying that "We have only one enemy. They are Jews. We have no other enemy. I will continue to carry the rifle and pull the trigger whenever required to defend my people."[5]
The appointment "sparked new criticism from the U.S. and Israel and intensified the struggle for control of some 70,000 Palestinian security forces" between Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas.[6] Abbas subsequently issued a decree banning the formation of the Executive Force that Abu Samhadana was to have headed.[7] However, Hamas defied the President's decree and proceeded with the nomination and the formation of the force.
Assassination
Although Israel acknowledged that Hamas was largely sticking to a ceasefire,[8] on 8 June 2006, he was assassinated, along with at least three other PRC members, by four missiles fired by Israeli Apache helicopters, guided by Israeli reconnaissance drones, at a PRC camp in Rafah.[9][10]
Repercussions of the assassination
At his funeral Samhadana’s supporters called for revenge.[11] Hours after his assassination rockets were fired at Sderot in Israel.[12] The IDF retaliated by bombarding the launch sites on a Gaza beach. During the bombardment period, the civilian Ghalia family was all but wiped out in an explosion.[13] Analysts trace the Samhadana assassination to the rocket fire (on Sderot), through a series of IDF shellings, rocket attacks and commando raids on Gaza that killed over three dozen people, mostly civilians, to the capture of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit on June 25.[8][14] Two days after Shalit's capture, the IDF launched Operation Summer Rains killing over 400 Palestinians and wounding 650.[8]
References
- ^ Hamas defies 'security force' ban, BBC News Online, 21 April 2006.
- ^ Palestinians survive Israeli bid on life, Al jazeera, 10 December 2004.
- ^ Rocket chief gets top post, Ynet News, 20 April 2006.
- ^ Amos Harel and Arnon Regular, Wanted militant tapped for post in PA Interior Min., April 23, 2006.
- ^ Jane Flanagan (2006). "'Jews are our enemy. I will pull the trigger whenever required'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- ^ Eric Westervelt, Hamas' New Security Force Rankles Israel, PLO, National Public Radio, 21 April 2006.
- ^ Conal Urquhart, Palestinian president vetoes Hamas police, The Guardian, 22 April 2006.
- ^ a b c "PRELUDE TO OPERATION CAST LEAD ISRAEL'S UNILATERAL DISENGAGEMENT TO THE EVE OF WAR" (PDF). Journal of Palestine Studies Vol. XXXVIII, No. 3 (Spring 2009), pp. 139–168, ISSN 0377-919X. 2009. pp. 148–149.
- ^ "Israeli Airstrike Kills Top Hamas Enforcer in Gaza". Fox News. June 8, 2006. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
- ^ "Palestinians Protest Against Israeli Targeted Killing". Xinhua News Agency. June 9, 2006. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
- ^ "Crowds mourn Gaza militant leader". BBC. 2006.
- ^ Shmulik Hadad (2006). "3 Qassams hit south following IAF killing". YNet News.
- ^ "Case Study: The GazaBeach Incident". Human Rights Watch. 2007.
- ^ Sharit G. Lin (2006). "Who started it? - Chronology of the Latest Crisis in the Middle East". Counterpunch.
External links
- On Patrol with the Killer Israel Dreads Hala Jaber, Sunday Times, 29 December 2002.
Video
- Hamas sets out vision for future, BBC News Online, 27 March 2006.