PROFILE - Wasim Abu Shaaban: Dedicated bodyguard and commander killed alongside Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh

By Mohamed Majid

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Over the course of five years, Wasim Abu Shaban served as a personal bodyguard to Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

He remained by Haniyeh’s side, shadowing him closely until their lives were tragically cut short in an assassination operation in Tehran on Wednesday morning.

Hamas mourned the loss of Abu Shaban, 36, known by his alias “Abu Anas,” who dedicated his life to both combat and leadership within the military wing of Hamas, the Al-Qassam Brigades. He also provided security for high-ranking Hamas officials.

- Who was Wasim Abu Shaban?

Born in 1988 in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City, Abu Shaban graduated from the Faculty of Sharia and Law at the Islamic University of Gaza. He was married with two sons and two daughters.

Known for his strong connection to mosques and his regular recitation of the Quran, he was highly regarded for his good reputation and ethical conduct among friends and family.

Early in his career, he served as a personal guard for Saeed Seyam, the Minister of Interior in Hamas’s first government. Seyam was assassinated by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in 2009.

- Member of Al-Qassam elite forces

As a member of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Shaban held the position of deputy commander of a unit in his area, Tal al-Hawa. Before his assignment with Haniyeh in 2019, he led a faction within the elite forces.

During the 2014 Israeli war on Gaza, he participated in a martyrdom operation targeting an Israeli military site in Nahal Oz, east of the Shejaiya neighborhood in Gaza City.

In July of that year, nine Al-Qassam fighters executed a daring incursion behind enemy lines, attacking a heavily fortified military tower belonging to the Nahal Oz battalion. They eliminated all personnel inside, including 10 Israeli soldiers.

Haniyeh and Abu Shaban fell victim to an Israeli airstrike on Haniyeh’s residence in Tehran. The attack occurred the day after Haniyeh attended the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian.

While Israel has not commented on the incident, both Hamas and Iran have vowed severe consequences for the assassination.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, expressed condolences for Haniyeh and emphasized Iran’s obligation to seek revenge for his death on Iranian soil.

The Al-Qassam Brigades also pledged retaliation, calling the event a significant turning point with far-reaching implications for the region.