PROFILE - Marwan Issa: Mysterious fate of Hamas' 'shadow man'

By Iyad Nabolsi

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - After two weeks of silence, Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagee claimed on Tuesday evening the assassination of Marwan Issa, a key leader in the military wing of Hamas known as the Al-Qassam Brigades, in a strike in the Gaza Strip.

Issa, 58, nicknamed "the shadow man" for his ability to evade Israeli surveillance over the years, has been pivotal in resisting the occupation.

He served as the deputy to Mohammed Deif, the overall commander of the Qassam Brigades, and was born in Gaza to a family displaced from the village of Beit Tima near Ashkelon in the occupied territories in 1948.

Accused of joining Hamas, Issa was arrested by the Israeli army during the First Intifada in 1987 for five years. He also spent four years in Palestinian Authority prisons and was released during the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000.

Post-2000, Issa, alongside Salah Shahada, played a significant role in rebuilding Hamas's military wing. He is rumored to be fluent in Hebrew, according to Israeli media.

Issa joined the Al-Qassam Brigades since its inception, assuming various positions until becoming the deputy to its overall leader, Mohammed Deif, succeeding Ahmed al-Jabari, who was assassinated by Israel in 2012.

In 2021, he was elected a member of Hamas' political bureau. Issa is known for bridging the gap between the political and military wings of the movement and has left a mark on several military fronts within Hamas, including manufacturing and Israeli prisoner cases.

Issa survived several assassination attempts, including one in 2006 when he was attending a meeting alongside Deif. His home was also targeted twice, in 2014 and 2021, according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

On March 12, the Israeli army bombed the Nusseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, after receiving intelligence about Issa's presence, but could not confirm his fate at that time.

A week later, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan announced Issa's death, labeling him as the "third man in Hamas," in an Israeli airstrike.

If Issa's death is confirmed, he would be the highest-ranking military leader in Hamas targeted by Israel in the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.

There has been no comment by Hamas on Issa's killing as yet.

Israeli officials claim Issa was among three Hamas leaders who planned the Oct. 7 attacks, alongside Deif and the movement's leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian territory since Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack by Hamas which killed nearly 1,200 people.

Over 32,400 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 74,800 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war, now in its 173rd day, has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the ICJ, which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul