Marwan Issa

Marwan Abdel Karim Ali Issa (مروان عبد الكريم علي عيسى; 1965 – c. 10 March 2024) was a Palestinian militant who was the deputy commander of Hamas' military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

Issa was born in the Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip in 1965. He was educated at the Islamic University of Gaza, and played basketball for Al-Bureij Services Club. His sport ambitions were ended after his arrest in 1987 during the First intifada against the Israeli occupation for his involvement with Hamas. He was later detained by the Palestinian Authority from 1997 to 2000, but released after the outbreak of the Second Intifada. Issa's eldest son died in 2009, when he was aged nine, after he was refused entry from the Gaza Strip to receive medical treatment in Egypt, while another son was killed in 2023 in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.

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, and reported to Mohammed Deif. He was placed in the terror watchlist of the United States in 2019 and the European Union in 2023. Issa played a significant role in planning the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. On 17 March 2024, media reports circulated that he was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Nuseirat during the Israel-Hamas war.

Early life
Issa was born in the Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip in 1965, where his family had moved from Ashkelon after they fled or were expelled when Israel was established in 1948. He was educated at the Islamic University of Gaza, and played basketball for Al-Bureij Services Club. His sport ambitions were ended after his arrest in 1987 during the First intifada against the Israeli occupation for his involvement with Hamas.

He was later detained by the Palestinian Authority from 1997 to 2000, but released after the outbreak of the Second Intifada.

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 its military systems. Issa was later one of Israel's most wanted militants, and he was seriously wounded but survived an Israeli assassination attempt during a 2006 meeting also attended by Deif and other top Qassam Brigade commanders.

Issa rarely appeared in public, and his appearance was not known publicly until 2011, when he appeared in a photo during a reception for released Palestinian prisoners from the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange. Issa was a member of Hamas's team negotiating the exchange with Ahmed Jabari, Saleh al-Arouri, and Nizar Awadallah. Issa's home was bombed in 2014 and 2021.

As Deif's right-hand man and second-in-command, Issa played a significant role in the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. During the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, Issa was one of Israel's three most wanted Hamas militants, alongside Hamas's leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar and Muhammed Deif, the three forming a secretive military council atop Hamas's military apparatus. Issa would replace Sinwar or Deif if either was killed. The European Union 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 within the organization, serving as a key figure beyond just military matters. Hayman described him as "the strategic mind of Hamas" and highlighted Issa's influence as a close confidant of Hamas leader Yahya 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 entry 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 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 confirmed Issa's death.

On 26 March 2024, the Israel Defense Forces officially confirmed Issa's death.