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Faiq Al-Mabhouh

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Fayeq Abdel Raouf Al-Mabhouh[1][A]
فائق عبد الرؤوف المبحوح
Director of Central Operations of the Palestinian Police in Gaza.[2]
Personal details
Born18 December 1968[1]
Jabalia refugee camp, Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip
Died18 March 2024(2024-03-18) (aged 55)
Rimal,[citation needed]
Cause of deathGunshot by IDF
Political party Hamas
SpouseMarried after 2007.[1]
Children2 sons (Ezzedeen and Mahmoud) and 2 daughters.[1]
ParentFather from Bayt Tima (Arabic: بيت طيما) near Ashkelon[1]
Military service
Allegiance Palestine
RankBrigadier General[3][4]
Commands Palestinian Police,
State of Palestine Gaza Strip
Battles/wars

Brigadier General Fayeq Al-Mabhouh[A] (Arabic: فائق المبحوح, romanizedFā'iq Al-Mabḥūḥ; Hebrew: פאיק אל-מבחוח; 1968–2024)[3][1] was the Director-General of Central Operations in the Ministry of the Interior and National Security in the Gaza Strip.[1][6] He was the leader of their crisis management team. His most notable recent responsibilities related to civilian disaster management, such as coordination and enforcement of restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5][7]

Media reports varied in the way they described his role at the time of his death, but he was most often described as a police officer, terrorist or the head of the Hamas government's "internal security" forces.[8][9] He was killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during a raid on Al-Shifa hospital.[10]

Duties

Mabhouh held the rank of brigadier general in the Hamas government's Ministry of the Interior and National Security.[3] He was not linked to the current military activities of Hamas's armed wing,[4] but he was one of the most influential people in managing the civilian activities of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip.[4] His specific duties at the time of his death are disputed.[11][12]

Israeli sources claimed that as the head of Hamas's internal security forces he was in charge of quashing political dissent across the Gaza Strip.[13] Some pro-Israel media claimed Mabhouh had been appointed to intimidate local Gazan clans in order to thwart them from cooperating with Israel on guarding the distribution of humanitarian aid,[14] and accused him of "orchestrating" the execution of the leader of the Doghmush clan the previous week.[14][15] The clan allegedly denied this, and claimed the leader and his family were killed by an airstrike.[16] Both sides were competing to win over the clans.[17]

Palestinians said Mabhouh’s current position was the head of police in the Gaza strip and had been helping coordinate for aid deliveries to the northern regions of the Gaza Strip.[9] Palestinian media described him as the official responsible for coordinating with the tribes and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) to bring and secure humanitarian aid into northern Gaza.[18] Hamas released a statement that said that, the assassination came two days after successful efforts to bring 15 aid trucks into northern Gaza," and they accused the IDF of aiming to, "spread chaos and prevent aid from reaching Gaza City and the other northern governorates".[19]

Sources told The New Arab (UK edition):[20] "The occupation government had responded to the mediators earlier by saying that they did not mind the presence of some Palestinian police, with the aim of participating in the aid distribution process, but it seems that the occupation army was surprised by the level of organisation and the great success of the process of entering aid into the northernmost areas of Beit Hanoun and Jabalia, more than four months after aid stopped arriving in those areas, which prompted him to forcefully enter that line to prevent any presence that indicates administrative and field control by the Hamas movement".[20]

Pandemic management

His other recent work included leading the Crisis Management Team in the Ministry of Interior during the during COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5][7] Fayeq played a prominent role in communicating with the public about the changing situation. He regularly appeared in video announcements on Al-Aqsa TV and social media channels, and gave interviews to local media to explain changes in restrictions. The Gaza Strip restrictions took the "flattening the curve" approach of slowing the spread of infections rather than preventing them completely.[7] The restrictions imposed were similar to those imposed by most western countries,[5] and much more relaxed than China, Australia, or other Western Pacific nations that maintained a zero COVID policy.[5] They tried to avoid full lockdowns by implementing partial measures like weekend (Friday to Saturday) lockdowns and curfew,[5][7] the Friday to Saturday lockdowns included mosques being closed for Friday prayers. But during times while the mosques were open, one creative measure initiated by Gaza’s ministry of health was to replace the mosque preachers with doctors who gave health information seminars.[21]

Death

During an IDF raid on Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Fayeq Mabhouh was killed in what sources based on reports from the IDF described as a firefight between Hamas militants and Israeli troops.[22][10][11][23] but many Palestinian aligned sources describe as an assassination.[2][24][12][18] They mostly don't dispute that Fayeq fired on the Israeli forces who approached him, but they frame the situation differently as to who was the aggressor.[1][22][25]

The raid was launched at approximately 2:30 am, by troops from the IDF’s 401st Armored Brigade and other units, including special forces and the Shin Bet security agency encircling the hospital.[22]

Before the IDF found Fayeq (in or near the hospital) they raided his family home and kicked out his wife and children.[1][10] Fayeq’s brother was captured in a neighbourhood near the hospital.[1]

According to the IDF, Fayeq Mabhouh refused to surrender to troops and instead continued firing at Israeli security forces until he was killed.[14] The IDF initially claimed to have killed 20 other "terrorists" alongside Fayeq.[11] The IDF claimed that by the evening of Monday 18 March, their troops had killed 20 "Hamas" gunmen inside the hospital premises and another 20 were killed in the surrounding area.[22]

Some sources suggest that the gun battle happened outside the hospital.[1] The exact circumstances of his death are unverifiable.

They sides disagree on the implied or explicit purpose of removing Fayeq from power (and the war as a whole). Israeli-aligned sources frame it as removing a threat to Israel,[22][13][23] but there is no indication that he has had any role in attacks on Israel while working as part of Gaza's civilian administration.[4][1] Palestinian aligned sources described the goal as the destruction of Palestine,[24] by starving the people, and preventing independent Palestinian control of the Gaza Strip.[24] International sources often came closer to the Palestinian framing of the situation or present that version of events as more credible.[17][9]

Response to his death

The Israel Arabic account of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the X platform announced the killing of Al-Mabhouh, describing him as, "the head of the Operations Directorate of the Internal Security Service of the Hamas terrorist organization."[26]

Hamas released an extremely strongly worded statement, in which they claimed the killing of a civilian police officer was a violation of international law.[27] It read, in part:

"This terrorist crime, by targeting civilian police protected under international humanitarian law, is further evidence of the Nazi enemy’s efforts to spread chaos, undermine societal peace in the Gaza Strip, and perpetuate the state of famine from which our people suffer, in implementation of the plan of a war of extermination and the displacement of our people from their land".[27][28][29]

Arabic language social media speculated about the motives for the killing and the attack on the hospital, with comments such as, "The trucks passed over the past two days peacefully, without chaos, massacres, stampedes, wounded, or martyrs, but the criminal occupation does not like it."[26] It was rumoured that a large part of the Israeli motive was the failure of the Israeli plan to replace the police in Gaza with the clans (such as the Doghmush clan) to distribute aid and enforce the law.[26]

Early life and family

Fayeq was born in Jabalia refugee camp,[30][1] He had 13 siblings including Mahmoud al-Mabhouh,[30] and another brother who was captured on the day Fayeq was killed.[1] Their father immigrated to the Jabalia camp in the Gaza Strip from the town of Beit Tima (near Ashkelon) in 1948.[1]

He joined Hamas as a young student, when they formed in 1988.[1] His early work with Hamas included student protests, and pursuing drug dealers with a group focused on enforcing an Islamic ideal of morality.[1] In 2007 he joined the civilian police force in the Gaza Strip.[1] Like many members of Hamas, he could speak fluent Hebrew.[31][32]

He was married, with two sons, Ezzedeen and Mahmoud, and two daughters, Yara and Juri.[1]

2010 assassination of his brother Mahmoud

Speaking about the assassination of his brother Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh the United Arab Emirates in 2010, Fayeq said, "He was very secretive about his work and kept his family life separate. He wasn’t in battle or fighting yet the Israelis killed him. As a family we have the right to know who killed him and have lawyers in different countries working on it and when they catch the killers, we want them to be brought to court."[33] He called on the Irish Government to expel the Israeli ambassador from Ireland, because the killers had used forged Irish passports.[33] The assassins entered the UAE using fake or fraudulently obtained passports (some stolen from Israeli dual nationals) including passports from the UK, Ireland, Australia, France, and Germany.[14] Israel attempted to deny responsibility, but this was widely disbelieved.[34]

Fayeq said that Israel had targeted his brother Mahmoud at least twice in the past. Six months before Mahmoud's death, Fayeq claimed, Mahmoud was poisoned during a visit to Dubai and was unconscious for 36 hours. In 2004, the day Ezzedeen Sheikh Khalil (who Haaretz describe as "a senior Hamas figure also involved in arms smuggling") was killed in Damascus, security cameras in Mahmoud's home showed a bomb under his vehicle, and he escaped.[35]

Fayek appealed to Sinn Fein (the political party in Northern Ireland) about his brother's death, "Ireland and Palestine have shared political experiences and I would like to thank the Irish people for your support especially your condemnation of Israel's war last year,"" (referring to the war in 2009).[36]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c The spelling of his name in English is extremely variable, including "Faiq Al-Mabhouh", "Fayek Mabhouh", and others. Many Arabic surnames start with an "Al" (Arabic: ال), this is sometimes omitted in English, but sometimes retained. The most common Romanisations of his first name are "Fayeq",[30][3] "Fayek",[37][38] and "Faiq",[39][40] but there are numerous other ways, ending in Q, K, G, e.g. "Fayeg",[41] or even CK, e.g. Faack.[10] The Hebrew spelling is less variable (Hebrew: פאיק).[31] His full name is Arabic: فائق عبد الرؤوف المبحوح, romanizedFaiq Abdel Raouf Al-Mabhouh.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Fayeq Al-Mabhouh...a police general in Gaza who was assassinated by Israel". Encyclopedia. Al Jazeera. 19 March 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Hamas condemns top Palestinian police officer's assassination". The Palestinian Information Center. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d "Top Palestinian police officer killed by Israel at northern Gaza hospital". www.aa.com.tr. 19 March 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Since 7 October: these are the most prominent Hamas leaders who have been assassinated by Israel". www.alarabiya.net (in Arabic). 19 March 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Al-Mahouh: "Lockdown" is an option among procedures evaluated by the competent authorities according to the epidemic situation". Palestine Online (in Arabic). 5 December 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  6. ^ "لماذا اغتالت إسرائيل فائق المبحوح؟". YouTube. 24 March 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d "He sent a message to citizens: Head of the Crisis Management Team in Gaza: We will conduct an evaluation of all the measures taken by this date". Sama News (in Arabic). 30 December 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  8. ^ Halabi, Einav (18 March 2024). "Senior Hamas commander killed in al Shifa raid". Ynetnews.
  9. ^ a b c "Israeli forces attack Gaza's al-Shifa hospital". Channel 4 News. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d "Troops engaged in shootout with Hamas logistics chief before killing him, new details show". 19 March 2024.
  11. ^ a b c Gunter, Joel; Gritten, David (18 March 2024). "Israeli forces raid Gaza City's al-Shifa hospital". BBC. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  12. ^ a b "Hamas police official who secured aid distribution among 50 executed in Shifa Hospital raid". Mada Masr. 19 March 2024. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Top Hamas operative killed in hospital raid, army says". The Times of Israel.
  14. ^ a b c d "IDF Kills Top Hamas Officer, Brother Of Hamas Officer Eliminated In Dubai, Which Sparked Diplomatic Crisis". www.theyeshivaworld.com. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  15. ^ זיתון, יואב (18 March 2024). "גלנט: "מסתור המחבלים הפך למלכודת מוות" | תיעוד: מעטפות כסף עם "ברכות" בשיפא". Ynet.
  16. ^ "Gaza Hadith Al-Ekhbariyah - Response to the statement (غزة الحدث الإخبارية - رداً على بيان)". nabd.com نبض (in Arabic). 16 March 2024. Retrieved 2 June 2024. In response to a "fabricated" statement accusing Hamas of killing the mukhtar of the Daghmush family: The Central Family Council publishes a statement denying this statement and the accusation
  17. ^ a b Al-mughrabi, Nidal (20 March 2024). "Palestinian clans and factions step in to protect Gaza aid". The Japan Times. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
    Quote from a Palestinian official who asked not to be named: "Israel's plan to find some clans to collaborate with its pilot projects of finding an alternative to Hamas didn't succeed but it also showed that Palestinian resistance factions are the only ones who can run the show, in one way or another."
  18. ^ a b "Two Palestinian political analysts: The implications of the assassination of Al-Mabhouh...spreading chaos and undermining civilian rule in Gaza" (in Arabic). 18 March 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  19. ^ "Fayeq Al-Mabhouh...a police general in Gaza who was assassinated by Israel". Encyclopedia. Al Jazeera. 19 March 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
    Quote in Arabic:
    "أن الهدف من العملية هو نشر الفوضى ومنع وصول المساعدات إلى محافظتي الشمال وغزة … الاغتيال أتى بعد يومين من نجاح جهود إدخال 15 شاحنة مساعدات إلى شمال غزة."

    Quote (rough translation): “The aim of the operation is to spread chaos and prevent aid from reaching the northern and Gaza governorates... The assassination came two days after the success of efforts to bring 15 aid trucks into northern Gaza.”
  20. ^ a b "Israeli signals to Egypt to carry out a military operation in Rafah: and Hamas warns of its repercussions إشارات إسرائيلية لمصر بتنفيذ عملية عسكرية في رفح". The New Arab (Cairo) (in Arabic). 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  21. ^ "Roundup: Gaza replaces mosque preachers with doctors for sermon amid COVID-19 - Xinhua - English.news.cn". 21 March 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  22. ^ a b c d e "IDF raids Gaza's Shifa Hospital again, kills 40 gunmen including senior commander". Times of Israel. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  23. ^ a b Vasilyeva, Nataliya (18 March 2024). "Israel-Hamas war latest: Senior Hamas terrorist 'killed in Al-Shifa Hospital raid'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  24. ^ a b c "Israel's lethal charade in Gaza hides its real goals in plain sight". Middle East Eye. 26 March 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  25. ^ (and other sources cited elsewhere on this page)
  26. ^ a b c "Tweeters: For these reasons, the occupation assassinated Brigadier General Faiq al-Mabhouh in Gaza". Al Jazeera (in Arabic). 19 March 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  27. ^ a b "A Terrorist Crime: The First Comment From Hamas On The Assassination Of Brigadier General Fayeq Al-Mabhouh". قناة الغد www.alghad.tv (in Arabic). 18 March 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
    Quote in Arabic:
    "هذه الجريمة الإرهابية باستهداف الشرطة المدنية المحمية بموجب القانون الدولي الإنساني هي دليل إضافي على سعي العدو النازي لنشر الفوضى، وضرب السلم المجتمعي في القطاع، وإدامة حالة المجاعة التي يعاني منها أهلنا، تنفيذا لمخطط حرب الإبادة وتهجير شعبنا عن أرضه."

    Quote (rough translation): “This terrorist crime, targeting civilian police protected under international humanitarian law, is further evidence of the Nazi enemy’s attempt to spread chaos, undermine societal peace in the Gaza Strip, and perpetuate the state of famine from which our people suffer, in implementation of the plan of a war of extermination and the displacement of our people from their land.”
  28. ^ "Describing it as a terrorist crime... Hamas condemns the assassination of Major General Al-Mabhouh وصفتها بالجريمة الإرهابية.. حماس تدين اغتيال اللواء المبحوح". palinfo.com (in Arabic). 18 March 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
    Statement in Arabic:
    "هذه الجريمة الإرهابية باستهداف الشرطة المدنية المحمية بموجب القانون الدولي الإنساني هي دليل إضافي على سعي العدو النازي لنشر الفوضى وضرب السلم المجتمعي في القطاع، وإدامة حالة المجاعة التي يعاني منها أهلنا، تنفيذاً لمخطط حرب الإبادة وتهجير شعبنا عن أرضه."

    Statement (rough translation): "This terrorist crime, by targeting the civilian police protected under international humanitarian law, is further evidence of the Nazi enemy’s attempt to spread chaos, undermine societal peace in the Gaza Strip, and perpetuate the state of famine from which our people suffer, in implementation of the plan of a war of extermination and the displacement of our people from their land."
    Name and rank in Arabic: الشهيد اللواء فائق عبدالرؤوف المبحوح, lit.'The martyr, Major General Faiq Abdel Raouf Al-Mabhouh'
  29. ^ "Hamas condemns top Palestinian police officer's assassination". 18 March 2024.
  30. ^ a b c "i24NEWS - Operative killed at Shifa revealed as sibling of former Hamas leader assassinated in Dubai". www.i24news.tv. 19 March 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  31. ^ a b "N12 - פאיק מבחוח: "המוסד חיסל את אחי" Faiq Mabhouh: "Mossad eliminated my brother"" (in Hebrew). 19 February 2010.
  32. ^ https://mobile.mako.co.il/news-israel/local/Article-94f862be577e621004.htm
  33. ^ a b McEnroe, Juno (24 February 2010). "State should expel Israeli ambassador, says brother". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  34. ^ "Israel says No Proof it was Involved in Killing of Hamas Commander". Voice of America. 16 February 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  35. ^ Harel, Amos; Issacharoff, Avi (31 January 2010). "Mystery explosion kills senior Hamas militant in Dubai". Haaretz.
  36. ^ "Sinn Féin councillor petitions Dublin on Hamas martyr - A LONDONDERRY republican has called on the Irish Government to act on the murder of a senior Palestinian militant in Dubai last month". 26 February 2010. Retrieved 21 July 2024. Gerry MacLochlainn has written to the Taoiseach Brian Cowen calling for action on the murder of the senior Hamas member. He said he was writing in support of an appeal from the dead man's brother Mr Fayeg al-Mabhouh.
  37. ^ "March 18, 2024 Israel-Hamas war: Senior Hamas commander killed in Israeli airstrike last week, White House says". CNN. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  38. ^ Gabbatt, Adam (16 February 2010). "Members of hit squad suspected of killing Hamas man 'had UK passports'". The Guardian.
  39. ^ "Hamas condemns top Palestinian police officer's assassination". The Palestinian Information Center. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  40. ^ "Top Hamas man killed in Shifa hospital is brother of terror group leader assassinated in Dubai". Times of Israel. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  41. ^ https://www.northernirelandworld.com/news/sinn-fein-councillor-petitions-dublin-on-hamas-martyr-2834621

Further reading