Zaher Jabarin is a Palestinian in exile and a member of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement.
32 Facts About Zaher Jabarin
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Zaher Jabarin is the head of the Office of Martyrs, Wounded, and Prisoners, and financial administrator in the Hamas Movement.
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The financial network Jabarin oversees raises, invests, and launders money destined for Hamas military operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip via networks in Turkey, Lebanon, and the Arabian Gulf.
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In 1993, Zaher Jabarin was arrested and an Israeli military court sentenced him to life imprisonment plus 35 years for killing Israelis during the First Intifada.
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Zaher Jabarin was responsible for attacks that killed Israeli soldiers and police.
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Zaher Jabarin was released as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange in 2011, after which he assumed leadership of the Hamas Financial Bureau from his base in Istanbul, Turkey.
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Zaher Jabarin was head of the Office of Martyrs, Wounded, and Prisoners for Hamas.
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Zaher Jabarin was allegedly responsible for the resumption of Hamas' planning and incitement of suicide bombings in 48-Israel and the West Bank, including the Lehi Street bombing in Tel Aviv on 18 August 2024, as the group's capabilities in Gaza diminished and Hamas leaders were assassinated.
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Zaher Jabarin was born on 18 September 1968, in Salfit, in the area that some Israelis refer to as Samaria, in the West Bank region of occupied Palestine.
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Zaher Jabarin's mother died while he was in prison, and his father died while he was in exile.
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When Zaher Jabarin left prison he was not allowed to see his father before leaving the country.
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Zaher Jabarin joined Hamas in 1987 and helped to found the Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, leading its expansion into the northern West Bank.
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Zaher Jabarin was credited for recruiting into Hamas Yahya Ayyash, an expert in IEDs and one of the planners of the abduction and killing of Nissim Toledano.
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Zaher Jabarin has been responsible for attacks that killed Israeli soldiers and police.
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In recent interviews Zaher Jabarin has denied that he and the rest of Hamas' political wing are directly involved with the Qassam Brigades, "al-Qassam have their own ties, different from those of the political wing".
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Zaher Jabarin was shot in the leg while throwing stones as a student, and then imprisoned for ten months in 1988.
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In 1993, the Shin Bet arrested Zaher Jabarin and sentenced him to life in prison, plus 35 years, for his alleged involvement in a series of attacks in which Israelis were killed, and for being a member of the group that kidnapped and killed an Israeli police officer in 1993.
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In prison, Zaher Jabarin learned Hebrew, earned a degree, and started to write a book, with the introduction written by Saleh al-Arouri.
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Zaher Jabarin died while he was in solitary confinement at Hadarim Prison.
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Zaher Jabarin subsequently spent years living between Qatar and Turkey, ultimately settling in Istanbul, where he assumed leadership of the Hamas Financial Bureau.
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In Istanbul, Zaher Jabarin was a deputy to Saleh al-Arouri, who lived in Turkey until 2016.
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In 2021, Zaher Jabarin was elected as the deputy to Saleh al-Arouri as leader of Hamas in the West Bank.
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Zaher Jabarin was considered al-Arouri's right-hand man to Arouri, Ynet referred Arouri as "the West Bank's Mohammed Deif".
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Zaher Jabarin's position was head of the Office of Martyrs, Wounded, and Prisoners.
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In 2022 Zaher Jabarin said that liberating Palestinian prisoners in Israel was the most important priority.
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Zaher Jabarin called on the Palestinian people to prepare for the battle with the occupier.
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Zaher Jabarin said that the United States wanted to avoid a regional war while Netanyahu's goal was to stay in power.
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Zaher Jabarin accused Netanyahu of obstructing United States' proposals to serve his own personal goals.
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Zaher Jabarin said that Hamas had not yet used up all their options and that the West Bank would "surprise the enemy soon".
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In late August 2023 Zaher Jabarin threatened Israeli extremist Minister for National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir.
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Zaher Jabarin was angry about Ben-Gvir's continuing provocative behaviour at Al-Aqsa.
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In 2006, while Zaher Jabarin was still in Prison, Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian legislative election and Ismail Haniyeh became Prime Minister of Palestine, Hamas announced that they planned to stop suicide bombings.