A child inspects the damage after an Israeli strike on the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, Nov. 17, 2023. (Credit: AFP)
This article, originally dated Mar. 14, was updated on Monday, Mar. 18, 2024, at 10:30 p.m., following Washington's announcement of Marwan Issa's death.
Marwan Abdel Karim Issa, 59, whose death was confirmed Monday evening by the White House, is the most senior Hamas official to have been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.
A discreet deputy head of the movement's armed wing, he was the Islamist group's number three in the enclave, one of Israel's most wanted men after the wing’s leader, Yahya Sinwar, and commander-in-chief, Mohammad Deif.
The "man in the shadows" of the al-Qassam Brigades is said to have played a leading role in planning the triple incursion into Israeli territory. "He was involved up to his neck in [the] Oct. 7 [operation]; he was one of the five men who knew in advance [all the details of the attacks] if he wasn't the most involved of them all," said Amos Yadlin, former head of Israeli military intelligence, on an Israeli channel on Monday, Mar. 11, the day after an air strike targeted the Issa.
‘Killed in an Israeli operation’
Commenting on the attack, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said that a joint operation by the army and internal intelligence was carried out the previous Saturday night against an underground complex belonging to senior Hamas officials in Nuseirat, central Gaza.
According to Israel, two important Hamas figures were at the targeted site: Ghazi Abou Tamaa, considered responsible for "all Hamas weapons in Gaza,” and Issa. "When we are certain, we will inform the general public,” said Daniel Hagari at the time, as rumors that the Islamist movement's number three had indeed died were already starting to circulate in Israel.
A week later, on Monday, these rumors were confirmed by the White House. "Marwan Issa was killed in an Israeli operation last week," said Jake Sullivan, the US executive branch's national security advisor, at a press conference.
The man, born in 1965 in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, has long managed to evade Israel’s radar. It was from this same camp that Issa became involved with the al-Qassam Brigades in the early days of their creation in 1991.
According to Israeli public broadcaster Kan, the Palestinian — who initially trained with the Muslim Brotherhood — played a key role in setting up the armed organization in Gaza.
However, he only became a public figure in 2011, when he took part in talks to free thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured in 2006 by the armed wing of Hamas in a kibbutz south of the Gaza Strip.
A year later, the Gazan climbed to second place in Hamas' military wing, becoming Deif's deputy commander in 2012.
Issa replaced Ahmad Jabari, who had long been hounded by Israel and was killed in a strike on Gaza the same year. It was partly thanks to his negotiating skills that Issa rose through the ranks of Hamas.
According to Israel, his role — in addition to his activities as military chief — was to mediate between the military commanders and the political wing of Hamas, most of whose leaders are based in Qatar and Turkey.
In May 2021, the Gazan played an active part in negotiations leading to a ceasefire agreement after several weeks of clashes between Israelis and Palestinians had culminated in an Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip.
Calls for resistance
His many years in detention also forged his reputation. In 1987, he was arrested by Israel and spent five years in prison for his activities during the first intifada.
Ten years later, the Palestinian Authority (PA) locked him up for two years at a time when it was carrying out massive purges of political opponents, the vast majority of whom were suspected of being Hamas sympathizers.
Issa was subsequently the subject of several unsuccessful assassination attempts by Israel.
According to the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, the 50-year-old had also been suffering from cancer for several years. In recent times, his health had deteriorated, prompting several attempts to evacuate the Gaza Strip for treatment before the war.
In March 2023 — a few months before Oct. 7 —, Issa gave a speech calling for "the revival of the resistance throughout Palestine and its financial, moral and media support” in a rare televised appearance on the Palestinian channel al-Aqsa. He emphasized the need to provide it with "new opportunities" in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in addition to Gaza. He also announced that the days ahead "will be rich in events,” predicting a "regional earthquake" in the event of a change in the status quo at al-Aqsa Mosque.
During more than five months of the war in Gaza, Issa's son Mohammad was reportedly killed by an Israeli strike. The shadow man of the al-Qassam Brigades remained actively sought by Israeli forces.
The same goes for Sinwar and Deif, with whom he is said to have formed a secret council at the top of the Hamas military apparatus, according to sources quoted by Reuters in December. If either of these two leaders were to be killed before him, Issa was to replace him.
"We are on the road to total victory. On the way to this victory, we have already eliminated Hamas' number four. Three, two and one are on the verge of being eliminated,” declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Mar. 11.
Saleh al-Arouri — Hamas' “number four” — was killed in a targeted drone strike while in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Jan. 2. "They're all dead men; we'll get them all," added the head of the Israeli government.
Israel boasts that it has eliminated 13,000 Hamas fighters since Oct. 7, while the death toll in Gaza caused by the Israeli army currently stands at over 31,000, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour.