Marwan Abdel Karim Ali Issa was a Palestinian militant who was the deputy commander of Hamas' military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades.
19 Facts About Marwan Issa
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Marwan Issa was educated at the Islamic University of Gaza, and played basketball for Al-Bureij Services Club.
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Marwan Issa was arrested in 1987 during the First intifada for his involvement with Hamas.
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Marwan Issa was detained by the Palestinian Authority from 1997 to 2000, and released after the outbreak of the Second Intifada.
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Marwan Issa became the head of the Qassam Brigades in the refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip and played a central role in the development of its military systems.
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Marwan Issa was placed on the terror watchlist of the United States in 2019 and the European Union in 2023.
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Marwan Issa was born in the Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip in 1965, where his family had moved from Ashkelon after they fled or were expelled when Israel was established in 1948.
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Marwan Issa was educated at the Islamic University of Gaza, and played basketball for Al-Bureij Services Club.
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Marwan Issa was later detained by the Palestinian Authority from 1997 to 2000, but released after the outbreak of the Second Intifada.
10.
Marwan Issa became the head of the Qassam Brigades in the refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip and played a central role in the development of their military systems.
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Marwan Issa was seriously wounded in an Israeli assassination attempt during a 2006 meeting attended by Deif and other top Qassam Brigade commanders.
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Marwan Issa rarely appeared in public, but in 2011, he was photographed at a reception for those released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange.
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Marwan Issa was a member of the Hamas team negotiating the exchange with Ahmed Jabari, Saleh al-Arouri, and Nizar Awadallah.
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Marwan Issa would replace Sinwar or Deif if either was killed.
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Marwan Issa was designated as a terrorist by the United States on 10 September 2019.
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On 11 March 2024, Israel announced the targeting of an underground facility in Nuseirat, central Gaza, used by Marwan Issa, airing footage of the strike and noting that the results were still being analyzed.
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On 17 March 2024, it was reported that Hamas had confirmed in private that Marwan Issa had been killed in the strike.
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At the time of his killing, Marwan Issa was the highest-ranking Hamas commander to be killed in the war.
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On 19 January 2025, Hamas officially confirmed that Marwan Issa has been killed.