Hamas symbols and leaders

• Ahmad Ismael Yasin, born in 1938 in Al Joura village of Al Majdal District south of the Gaza Strip, took refuge in the Gaza Strip with his family after the 1948 war.
• He was injured in an accident in his early youth while he was practicing exercises resulting in complete paralysis of all of his limbs.
• He worked as a teacher of Arabic and Islamic education. Then he worked as a "Khatib" and a teacher in Gaza mosques. He became the most popular Khatib in Gaza in the years of occupation because of being a competent authority.
• Chairman of the Islamic Complex in Gaza.
• He was arrested in 1983 on charges of possessing weapons, forming a military organization and inciting others to remove the Zionist State. Sheikh Yasin was tried before a Zionist military court and sentenced to 13 years imprisonment.
• Released in 1985 in a prisoners swap deal between the Occupation authorities and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command-after having spent 11 months in jail.
• Established the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, in Gaza Strip in 1987 with a number of other Islamic activists.
• The Occupation forces raided his house in late August 1988, searched the house and threatened to deport him to Lebanon.
• On 18 May 1989, the Occupation authorities arrested him along with hundreds of Hamas supporters in an attempt to stop the armed resistance which took the form of "knives war" against the Occupation soldiers, settlers and collaborators.
• On 16 October 1991, a Zionist military court sentenced him to life imprisonment plus 15 years. Sheikh Yasin was accused of 9 crimes, including inciting others to kidnap and murder Zionist soldiers and the establishment of Hamas and its military and security apparatus.
• In addition to being completely paralyzed, Sheikh Yasin suffers from several diseases, including lost vision in his right eye as a result of injuries to it sustained at the hands of interrogators, weakness of sight of his left eye, chronic inflammation in his ear, bronchitis and some other diseases and inflammation of the stomach. His health had deteriorated because of detention circumstances that led to his being moved to hospital several times.
• On 13 December 1992, a commandos group of Ezzul Deen Al Qassam Brigades kidnapped a Zionist soldier. The group offered to release the soldier for the release of Sheikh Yasin and a number of Palestinian and Arab prisoners in the Zionist jails. The Zionist government refused the offer and broke into the place where the soldier was hidden. The kidnapped soldier and the commander of the attacking unit were killed along with the members of the commando group in a house at Ber Nibala near Jerusalem.
• Released on 1 October 1997 in a deal between Jordan and Israel against the extradition of two Zionist agents arrested in Jordan following the bungled assassination attempt in Amman on Mr. Khalid Misha'al, Chairman of Hamas Political Bureau.

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• Born in Silwad of Ramallah (Palestine) in 1956.
• Displaced to Kuwait in 1967 and lived there until the 1990 Gulf crisis.
• Studied his primary schooling in Silwad and completed the intermediate, secondary and university studies in Kuwait.
• Led the Palestinian Islamic group at Kuwait University and participated in the foundation of the Islamic Haqq Bloc, which competed with Fateh's blocs on leading the General Union for the Palestinian Students in Kuwait.
• Holder of a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Kuwait University.
• Married in 1981 and has seven children: three girls and four boys.
• Served as a teacher of physics in Kuwaiti schools besides his engagements in serving the Palestinian Question.
• Devoted himself to political work since his arrival in Jordan.
• One of the founders of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
• Member of Hamas Political Bureau since it was established, then was elected as Chairman of the Bureau in 1996.
• He escaped an assassination attempt on his life on 25 September 1997 in Jordan's capital, Amman, by Mossad agents. The assassination attempt failed when Mr. Misha'al's bodyguards chased and arrested the Mossad agents. Sheikh Ahmad Yasin, Hamas spiritual leader, was released from an Israeli jail as a result of this bungled attempt.

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• Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook was born in Gaza in 1951. His family left their original village of Yabna near Al Majdal to Rafah of the Gaza Strip before he was born.
• Completed his basic education in the Gaza Strip. Studied engineering at Ein Shams University in Cairo and graduated in 1977.
• Worked as manager of a factory in the UAE until 1981.
• Left to the United States in 1981 to pursue higher education. Earned a Ph.D. degree in Industrial Engineering in 1991.
• Elected as Chairman of Hamas Political Bureau in 1991.
• Lived in Jordan for three years until 1995.
• Left Jordan in 1995. In the same year, he was arrested by the U.S. authorities at New York's JFK International Airport without any charge. He was held until the Zionist authorities requested his extradition from the United States on charge of issuing commands and transferring money to the military wing of Hamas.
• An American federal court ordered to extradite him to the Zionist occupation authorities. In January 1997, Dr. Abu Marzook decided not to appeal the extradition order against him after having spent 18 months in a solitary confinement cell at a New York federal jail.
• The Zionist occupation authorities decided not to receive Dr. Abu Marzook fearing a series of revenge attacks by Hamas. The American authorities were forced to deport him to Jordan in May 1997 after the Jordanian authorities had decided to receive him in Jordan.

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• Born in Jerusalem on 26 November 1936.
• Married with five children: three girls and two boys.
• Completed his secondary education at Rashidiya School of Jerusalem.
• Joined the Islamic Movement in Jerusalem in 1950. Was an Islamic activist in the Palestinian Students League in Egypt.
• Graduated from the faculty of engineering at the University of Cairo, Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering in 1961.
• Worked as an engineer in the Jordan Valley in 1961/1962.
• Worked in Kuwait Municipality between 1962 and 1966.
• Returned to Jordan to work on the Khalid Dam project of the Yarmuk River between 1966 and 1971.
• Left to Kuwait for a second time and worked on Kuwait Towers Project for one year (1971/1972).
• Manager of King Talal's Dam in Jordan from 1972 to 1978.
• Worked in his own engineering office from 1978 to 1989.
• Was free to work for Hamas since 1989.
• Announced as the spokesman of Hamas in 1992.
• Member of Hamas Political Bureau.

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• Abdel Aziz Ali Al Rantisi, born in Yabna village (between Ashkelon and Jaffa) on 23 October 1947. His family took refuge in the Gaza Strip after the 1948 war and settled in Khan Yunis refugee camp when he was 6 months old.
• Has 9 brothers and two sisters.
• He was enrolled in an UNRWA school when he was 6 years old. The hard living conditions of his family forced him to work while he was 6 years of age in order to contribute to his big family. Despite that, he was an outstanding student. He completed his secondary school education in 1965. Was admitted to the faculty of medicine, Alexandria University (Egypt).
• Graduated from the faculty in 1972 with an outstanding grade. Returned to Gaza for two years then returned to Alexandria and obtained a Master's degree in pediatrics. In 1976, he returned to the Gaza Strip and worked as a resident physician at Nasser Hospital (the main medical centre in Khan Yunis).
• Married with 6 children (two boys and four girls).
• Occupied several posts in public works such as a member in the administrative board of the Islamic Complex, Arab Medical Society in Gaza, and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
• Worked in the Islamic University in Gaza as a lecturer in science since it was opened in 1978.\
• Dr. Rantisi was arrested in 1983 because he refused to pay taxes to the Occupation autho. On 15 January 1988 he was arrested for 21 days.
• Founded the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, in 1987 with a number of Islamic activists in Gaza.
• On 4 March 1988, the Occupation forces arrested him again where he was detained for 30 months on charge of participating in anti-Occupation activities. He was released on 4 September 1990. On 14 December 1990 he was held again in administrative detention for 1 year.
• On 17 December 1992 he was deported along with 400 Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists and cadres to South Lebanon. He was the spokesman of the deportees in Marj Al Zuhour camp (Return Camp).
• The Occupation authorities arrested him upon his return home from Marj Al Zuhour. He remained under administrative arrest until mid-1997.

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• Born in Amman in 1963.
• Originally from Qalqilia town, north of the West Bank.
• Married with four children.
• Completed his secondary school education in Kuwait.
• Admitted to Karachi University, Pakistan. Holder of a Master's degree in Chemistry.
• Joined the Islamic Movement at an early age. He was an activist among the expatriate students in Pakistan. Elected as Secretary General of the Muslim Students Union in Pakistan, which gathers all Islamist expatriate students in Pakistan.
• Was free to work for Hamas since 1989.
• Member of Hamas Political Bureau and appointed as its representative in Jordan since 1992.

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• Jamal Abdel Rahman Mansour, born in Balata camp near Nablus, north of the West Bank, on 25 February 1960.
• Married with three children.
• Holds a Bachelor's degree in accounting and business administration.
• Appeared as a Hamas spokesman in the West Bank.
• Spokesman of Hamas delegation to the dialogue with the Palestinian Authority.
• Arrested by the Occupation authorities eight times.
• Arrested by the Palestinian Authority several times since its coming into Nablus.

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• Holds a Bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Alexandria University, Egypt.
  Married with three children.
• Arrested by the Occupation authorities on 28 September 1988 on charge of organizing and inciting others through Hamas' information committee. One of the charges against him was "performing information activities with the aim to eternalize Hamas' achievements."
• Released on 27 September 1990.
• Israeli authorities deported him to Lebanon in January 1991 with three other Hamas members.
• Elected as member of Hamas Political Bureau.

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• Born in the Beach camp, Gaza, on 24 February 1953.
• His family was displaced to Gaza from Jaffa after being occupied by the Zionist gangs in 1948 and thereafter lived in the Beach camp.
• Obtained a secondary school certificate with an outstanding grade but his financial circumstances did not allow him to pursue his university education, although he got admitted to study medicine and engineering in Turkish and Russian universities.
• Studied in the Higher Institute for Social Service in Alexandria. He showed Islamic affiliation in the third year of study.
• Married in 1976 and has six girls, the last was born after he was arrested.
• He carried a brown belt in Japanese wrestling while he was studying in Alexandria.
• Began his work for Islam after his return to Gaza from Egypt.
• Worked as a social worker in Areesh of Sinai and later appointed as supervisor of social affairs in Areesh.
• When Egypt restored Areesh from the Zionists in 1979, Salah was transferred to work as supervisor of social affairs in Gaza.
• Resigned from his work in 1982 and worked in the students affairs department of the Islamic University in Gaza.
• Arrested by the Israeli authorities in 1984 for suspicion of committing anti-Zionist activities but he did not admit anything. Zionists could not prove any charge against him but jailed him for two years according to the 1949 Emergency Law.
• After being released in 1986, he worked as director of student affairs in the Islamic University until the Occupation authorities decided to close the University in an attempt to stop the Palestinian intifadah. But Salah continued work in the University until he was arrested in August 1988.
• He remained in solitary confinement until May 1989. The Zionist secret service failed to force any information from him and therefore they stopped interrogating him. Sheikh Salah is still jailed and forbidden from receiving family visits.
• The Occupation authorities believe that Sheikh Salah Shihada was the founder of the first military apparatus of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, known as "Palestinian Mujahidoun", who were accused of forming military cells, carrying weapons and attacking Israeli military targets.

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• Born on 6 March 1966 in Rafat near Nablus, north of the Occupied West Bank.
• Completed his secondary school education in Rafat with an excellent grade that qualified him to study engineering at Beir Zeit University.
• Received a Bachelor's degree of electrical engineering in 1988.
• Married with two boys (Bara' and Abdel Latif).
• Became active in the ranks of Ezzul Deen Al Qassam Brigades from the beginning of 1992. He specialized in making explosives from raw materials available in the Palestinian territories. Later he developed the martyrdom (suicide) bombings following the massacre of Al Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron in February 1994. He was considered responsible for the martyrdom bombings, which made him a major target for the Zionists.
• He was pursued for three years. The Zionists assassinated him after recruiting hundreds of collaborators to trail him.
• He was killed in Bet Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip, on 5 January 1996 by a small explosive planted in a mobile phone he used occasionally.
• About half a million Palestinians attended in his funeral.
• Al Qassam Brigades carried out a series of martyrdom bombings to retaliate the assassination of Martyr Yahya Ayyash killing more than 70 Zionists and injuring hundreds.

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• Born in Jabalia camp of the Gaza Strip on 10 July 1971. His family was displaced from Bar'er village near Majdal in 1948.
• He completed his secondary school education in 1988 and excelled the students in the camp.
• He applied for admission to Al Amal Institute in Gaza to study pharmacology but soon was arrested by the Israeli authorities on 23 September 1988. He was tried on charges of affiliation with Hamas and participation in the intifadah activities. He spent 18 months in jail and was released in March 1990.
• In the academic year 1991/1992, he was admitted in Hitteen College in Amman to study Islamic Sharia, but the Occupation authorities did not allow him to cross the bridge to Jordan.
• In the beginning of 1991 he was nominated as a liaison officer between the "Martyrs group", the first militant group of Al Qassam Brigades, and the Brigades command. The Martyrs group basically specialized in killing the collaborators with the Zionists and collecting their weapons that were later used in military attacks against the Occupation patrols and soldiers.
• Since 26 December 1991, the Zionists pursued him after some Hamas members under torture made forced admissions against him.
• On 22 May 1992, he moved to the West Bank and formed several military cells there.
• On 13 November 1992, he returned to Gaza after establishing the military work in the West Bank and after scores of Al Qassam militants in the West Bank were arrested.
• He refused to leave the Gaza Strip in December 1992 and insisted to stay in Palestine.
• On 24 November 1993, after two years of pursuit by the Zionists, the Zionist forces surrounded Shaja'eya quarter in Gaza and he exchanged fire with them. A number of Israeli soldiers were killed and Emad was attacked with an anti-armour shell in his face, killing him instantly.

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