Said Seyam (; 22 July 1959 – 15 January 2009), first name also spelled Saeed and Sayed and last name also spelled Siam, was the

interior minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

of the Palestinian government of March 2006. He joined

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 ...

and became one of its top commanders. During the 2008–2009

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 ...

, Seyam was killed in an Israeli airstrike in

Jabalia Jabalia, also spelled Jabalya (), is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, located north of Gaza City, in the North Gaza Governorate of the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Jabalia had a population of 172, ...

. Seyam was the most senior Hamas member killed in the war, and the most senior Hamas figure killed by Israel since the death of Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi in April 2004.

Early life and education

Said Seyam was born on 22 July 1959 in the Al-Shati refugee camp near

Gaza City Gaza City, also called Gaza, is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Gaza Governorate. Located on the Mediterranean coast, southwest of Jerusalem, it was home to Port of Gaza, Palestine's only port. With a population of ...

. His parents fled there during the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

from their village home of al-Jura, near

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 ...

. Following his secondary education in Gaza City, he gained a diploma in sciences and maths, followed by a bachelor's degree in Islamic education from the Al-Quds Open University.

Hamas membership

It is unknown when Seyam joined Hamas, but he was one of the early members. Seyam held a job as a teacher at various

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

-run schools until 2003. He was arrested four times 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 ...

from 1987 to 1991. Israeli jets kill Hamas leader

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

. 15 January 2009. In 1992, he was expelled from the

Palestinian territories The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

to southern Lebanon and upon his return in 1995, Seyam was arrested by the Preventive Security Service (PSS) dominated by

Fatah Fatah ( ; ), formally the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (), is a Palestinian nationalist and Arab socialist political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

. Seyam was reported by Hamas as one of the pioneer of mortar and

Qassam rocket The Qassam rocket ( ; also ''Kassam'') is a simple, steel artillery rocket developed and deployed by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas. These rockets cannot be fired to target specific military objectives in or near ci ...

attacks on Jewish settlements 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 ...

, which caused them to be virtually besieged from 2001 to their evacuation by Israel in September 2005. According to his fighters, Seyam was injured three times during that period, although the causes of these injuries were not disclosed. Seyam was the second of Hamas' top five officials to be killed during Israel's offensive. He had evaded at least one attempt by the IDF to kill him in late 2004. Seyam became one of the members of the Hamas "collective leadership" in Gaza after the 2004 killings of founders Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi. Seyam was close to Yassin and Hamas secretary-general

Khaled Mashal Khaled Mashal (, ; born 28 May 1956) is a Palestinian politician who served as the second chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from 1996 until May 2017, when he was succeeded by Ismail Haniyeh. He has also covered duties as the acting lea ...

, that latter whom he accompanied on a diplomatic visit to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Russia. After the parliamentary elections in 2006, Seyam was appointed Interior Minister of the Palestinian National Authority, forming the Palestinian government of March 2006. It also put him in charge of 13,000 police and security forces. He represented the Gaza electoral district of the

Palestinian Legislative Council The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Palestinian National Authority, Palestinian Authority, elected by the Palestinians, Palestinian residents of the Palestinian territories of the Wes ...

as a Hamas member after being elected with the most votes for any single candidate. In June 2007, he created the Executive Force, a paramilitary organization to rival Mohammed Dahlan's PSS. It played a key role in the takeover of Gaza and was praised by many Gazans for bringing order to Gaza, but accused of torture by others.

Personal life

He had six children: two boys and four girls.

Death

Said Seyam was killed on 15 January 2009 in an Israeli air raid on his brother's rented home in

. Also killed in the strike were his son, brother and two other Hamas officials: the interior ministry's security director Saleh Abu Sharkh and the local leader of the Hamas militia, Mahmoud Abu Watfah. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri stated "Some of our leaders will fall, some of our people will fall, but the flag of resistance won't fall" in response to Seyam's death. Hamas members stated on

Al-Aqsa TV Al-Aqsa TV () is a television channel run by Hamas, which is based in the Gaza Strip. Its programs include news and propaganda promoting Hamas, children's shows, and religiously inspired entertainment. It is currently directed by Fathi Hamad, w ...

that Seyam's "blood will be the fuel for the coming victory gainst Israel.Third-ranking Hamas leader in Gaza killed
'' CNN News''. 2009.

References

External links

AFP Article

Said Siam
Obituary from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''
"Hamas leader denies disputes with Abbas on new cabinet formation"
Xinhua, 12 March 2006.
Analysis: Security kingpin held Gaza in iron grip
Analysis of factional struggles between

and

in the wake of Hamas' takeover of Gaza in 2007 1959 births 2009 deaths Hamas members Members of the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council Government ministers of the Gaza Strip Assassinated Palestinian politicians Assassinated Hamas members Deaths by Israeli airstrikes Interior ministers of the Palestinian National Authority Asian politicians assassinated in the 2000s 2000s murders in Palestine Politicians assassinated in 2009 Deaths by explosive device {{Targeted killing by Israel