Fathi Hamad

Fathi Ahmad Hamad (فتحي أحمد حماد, also spelled Fathi Hammad; born 3 January 1961) is a Palestinian politician and member of the Hamas political bureau. He was Interior Minister in the Hamas-administered Gaza Strip from 2009 to 2014.

Biography
In 1983, Hammad joined the Muslim Brotherhood. He is the Founder and Vice President of Dar Al Quran.

From 1988 to 1994, Hamad was in Israeli prison. He was also arrested three times by the Palestinian Authority and spent 2 years in Palestinian jails.

Hamad became a Hamas-affiliated member of the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006, representing his home town of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza. He also leads the Hamas Public Affairs Department and the chairman of al-Ribat Communications and Artistic Productions - a Hamas-run company which produces Hamas's radio station, Al-Aqsa Voice Radio, its television station, Al-Aqsa TV and its bi-weekly newspaper, The Message. Under his direction, the station broadcast children's show Tomorrow's Pioneers, which received heavy criticism for its antisemitic and Islamist content. Hamad defended the contents of the show, stating "it does not violate any moral or professional standard."

In April 2009, Hamad was appointed Interior Minister in the Hamas-administered Gaza Strip, replacing Said Seyam who had been assassinated by Israel during the 2008-09 Gaza War. He ceased being Interior Minister in June 2014 on the formation of the Fatah-Hamas unity government. According to the United States, Hamad used his position as interior minister to "coordinate terrorist cells."

In November 2009, Waad, a Gaza charity headed by Hamad, offered a $1.4 million bounty to any Arab citizen of Israel who abducts an Israeli soldier. While Palestinian militant groups have frequently called on Arab-Israelis to capture soldiers, this marked the first time money had been offered.

In September 2016, the U.S. Department of State named Hamad a Specially Designated Terrorist, outlawing U.S. citizens and companies from doing business with him and freezing his assets in areas under U.S. jurisdiction. The designation named Hamad as the founder and director of Hamad's Al-Aqsa TV, which the U.S. said aired "programs designed to recruit children to become Hamas armed fighters and suicide bombers." In response, Hamad told the Washington Post that he "was proud that I managed to anger America."

He provides funding and military instruction to the West Bank branch of Hamas, founded by prisoners released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange. According to Palestinian officials, Hamad was behind a cell planning suicide bombings and other attacks in Abu Dis.

Views
Hamad is viewed in Gaza as a powerful, but extreme, loose cannon, who operates independently of and kept at arm's length by Hamas. He is well-known as one of the most radical figures in Hamas. Hamad was a central figure opposing reconciliation with the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority.

A speech made by Hamad, broadcast on Al-Aqsa TV in February 2008, has been used as evidence by Israel and others that Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups make use of human shields. In an interview which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on 14 December 2010 (as translated by MEMRI), Hamad stated that Hamas receives support.

In a speech broadcast on Egyptian Al-Helma TV on 23 March 2012, Hamad condemned Egypt over the fuel shortage in the Gaza Strip, and stated, "Half of the Palestinians are Egyptians and the other half are Saudis."

In March 2018, it was reported that Hamad is a senior Hamas official who opposes reconciliation with Fatah, and urges a resumption of war against Israel. He has been implicated in the assassination attempt on prime minister Rami Hamdallah.

Controversies
In July 2019, Hamad urged members of the Palestinian diaspora to kill "Jews everywhere". His comments were characterized as incitement to genocide by Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. His rhetoric was widely condemned by other Palestinians and he later stated that he supports the Hamas policy of "limiting its resistance to the Zionist occupation that usurps Palestine’s land and defiles its holy sites". The killing of civilians is nonetheless prohibited in Islamic law.