Marwan Abdel Karim Ali Issa (; 1965 – 10 March 2024) was a

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

militant who was the deputy commander of

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

' military wing,

Al-Qassam Brigades Al-Qassam Brigades, also known as the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (EQB; ), are the military wing of the Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islamist organization Hamas. Led by Mohammed Deif until his death on 13 July 2024, Al-Qassam Brigades are ...

. Issa was born in the Bureij refugee camp in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

in 1965. He was educated at the

Islamic University of Gaza The Islamic University of Gaza (), also known as IUG and IU Gaza, is an independent Palestinian university established in 1978 in Gaza City. It was the first higher education institution to be established in the Gaza Strip. The university has ...

, and played basketball for Al-Bureij Services Club. He was arrested in 1987 during the

First intifada The First Intifada (), also known as the First Palestinian Intifada, was a sustained series of Nonviolent resistance, non-violent protests, acts of civil disobedience, Riot, riots, and Terrorism, terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians ...

for his involvement with Hamas. He was detained by the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, ...

from 1997 to 2000, and released after the outbreak of the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada (; ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, was a major uprising by Palestinians against Israel and its Israeli-occupied territories, occupation from 2000. Starting as a civilian uprising in Jerusalem and October 2000 prot ...

. 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 to

Mohammed Deif Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri (; 12 August 1965 – 13 July 2024), better known as Mohammed Deif (), was a Palestinian militant who served as the sixth commander of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. He succeeded Salah Shehade following t ...

. He was placed on the terror watchlist of the United States in 2019 and the European Union in 2023. Issa was said to have had a major role in planning the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel. On 17 March 2024, he was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Nuseirat during the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

Early life

Issa was born in the Bureij refugee camp in the

in 1965, where his family had moved from

Ashkelon Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The modern city i ...

after they fled or were expelled when Israel was established in 1948. He was educated at the

, and played basketball for Al-Bureij Services Club. In 1987, he was arrested during the

. He was later detained by the

from 1997 to 2000, but released after the outbreak of the

Leadership in Hamas

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. 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. Issa rarely appeared in public, but in 2011, he was photographed at a reception for those released in the

Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange The Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange (; ), also known as Wafa al-Ahrar () ("Faithful to the free"), followed a 2011 agreement between Israel and Hamas to release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1027 prisoners — almost all Palestinia ...

. Issa was a member of the Hamas team negotiating the exchange with

Ahmed Jabari Ahmed al-JabariAlso spelled Jaabari, Ja'bari or Ja'abari. (; 1960), also known as Abu Mohammad, was a Palestinian militant who served as second-in-command of the military wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. He was widely credited ...

Saleh al-Arouri Saleh Muhammad Sulayman al-Arouri (; 19 August 1966 – 2 January 2024), also transliterated as Salah al-Arouri or Salih al-Aruri, was a Palestinian politician and senior leader of Hamas who served as List of leaders of Hamas, deputy chairman o ...

, and Nizar Awadallah. Issa's home was bombed in 2014 and 2021. As Deif's second-in-command, Issa was closely involved in planning the

2023 Hamas attack on Israel On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...

. During the

, Issa was one of Israel's three most wanted Hamas militants, alongside

Yahya Sinwar Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Sinwar (; 29 October 1962 – 16 October 2024) was a Palestinian militant and politician who served as chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from August 2024, and as the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip from February ...

and Muhammed Deif, the three forming a military council. Issa would replace Sinwar or Deif if either was killed. The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

linked Issa directly to the attack and placed Issa and Deif on its terrorist blacklist on 8 December. According to Tamir Hayman, former head of Israel's Institute for National Security Studies and former head of the Military 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. Issa was designated as a terrorist by the United States on 10 September 2019.

Personal life

Issa's eldest son Baraa died in 2009, aged nine, after he was refused passage from the Gaza Strip for medical treatment in Egypt. Another son, Muhammad, was killed in 2023 in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza during the Hamas War.

Death

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. Hamas, which had not disclosed much about its senior military leaders during the war, did not immediately respond. 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. Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

reportedly hailed the news as "a great achievement for Israel" and stated "they will all die, we will reach them all." On 18 March 2024, White House National Security Advisor

Jake Sullivan Jacob Jeremiah Sullivan (born November 28, 1976) is an American attorney who served as the National Security Advisor (United States), U.S. national security advisor from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. Sullivan previously served as Dire ...

confirmed Issa's death. On 26 March 2024, the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

officially confirmed Issa's death. Initially, Hamas did not confirm or deny Issa's death publicly. On 19 January 2025, Hamas officially confirmed that Marwan Issa has been killed. This was later affirmed in a speech by Abu Obaida, the spokesperson for the Qassam Brigades, which serves as the armed wing of Hamas. The Qassam Brigades held a funeral service for Marwan Issa on 7 February 2025, and he was buried in his birthplace of Bureij.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Issa, Marwan 1965 births 2024 deaths Hamas military members Deaths by Israeli airstrikes during the Israel–Hamas war Assassinated Hamas members Military personnel killed in the Israel–Hamas war People from the Gaza Strip Islamic University of Gaza alumni