Gaza – The assassination of a member of the Military Council of the Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of the Islamic Jihad Movement, Tayseer Al-Jabri, in August of last year, constituted a prelude to a series of systematic assassinations committed by the Israeli occupation to liquidate the movement’s military leaders.
In the same manner as the assassination of Al-Jabri, three other members of the military council of the Jihad movement were martyred, through guided missiles that raided them inside their homes, as Israel launched its current aggression with complex and simultaneous assassinations, since the dawn of the ninth of May.
In this report, Al-Jazeera Net monitors, through a chronological sequence, the most prominent assassinations and the extent of the impact of the absence of leaders on the organizational structure and military performance of the Al-Quds Brigades.
Martyr Tayseer Al-Jabari “Abu Mahmoud”
Israel assassinated him on August 5, 2022, by targeting his house in the Palestine Tower in the center of Al-Remal neighborhood in Gaza City.
He was born in 1972, married and has 5 sons and two daughters. He joined the Jihad movement inside the occupation prisons in 1990, and in the mid-nineties he joined the “martyrdom unit” of the military apparatus under its old name “The Islamic Mujahid Forces – Division”.
His career with the Brigades began with the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000, and he rose to leadership positions until he was appointed deputy commander of the Gaza Brigade, the martyr Bahaa Abu al-Atta, who preceded him to witness a similar assassination in late 2019.
In 2012, he became a member of the Military Council and responsible for the Central Military Operations Unit. After the assassination of Abu al-Ata, he succeeded him in the leadership of the Northern Region, and supervised the development of military capabilities in this region.
And before Israel succeeded in assassinating him, he survived two assassination attempts in 2012 and 2014, and according to the military media, during his career, he supervised military operations on the borders of Gaza, some of which resulted in the killing and wounding of Israeli soldiers, and ordering rockets to be fired.
Martyr Khaled Mansour “Abu Mansour”
A member of the Military Council, commander of the southern region, and head of the missile unit, he was assassinated by Israel the day after the assassination of Al-Ja’bari in 2022, through an air strike on a residential house in which he was holed up in the city of Rafah, in the southern Strip.
He was born in 1975 to a refugee family. He is married to 3 women, of whom he had 8 sons, the eldest “Mansour”, and 5 daughters.
He joined the Jihad in 1987, and joined the first military apparatus under the name “Saif al-Islam”, then the second apparatus “Department”. He contributed to the establishment of companies, the formation of military cells and the training of their personnel, and he has fingerprints in the field of manufacturing local missiles and developing their capabilities.
Martyr Jihad Al-Ghannam “Abu Muhammad”
One of the three leaders who were assassinated by the Israeli occupation at dawn on the ninth of May. He is the secretary of the Military Council. He was born in the city of Rafah in 1961 to a refugee family. He resisted the occupation at an early age, and the occupation forces chased him and banished him outside Palestine.
According to the Brigades’ military media, Al-Ghanam joined the movement in the late eighties, when he met the founder, the martyr Fathi Al-Shikaqi, who assigned him to train the movement’s fighters in Sudan and Lebanon.
He participated in the establishment of the brigades, contributed to the training of the resistance fighters, supervised martyrdom operations, and had a role in supplying the resistance with qualitative weapons, recruiting military cells in the West Bank, and assuming responsibility for commanding the southern region, succeeding Mansour.
He survived 5 assassination attempts, the most serious of which was in 2014, when his mother, siblings, and cousins were killed. In 2001, he was seriously injured, as a result of which he lost his legs and part of his hands, and his house was repeatedly bombed in previous battles.
Martyr Khalil Al-Bahtini “Abu Hadi”
Member of the Military Council, born in 1978 in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City. He belonged early to the Jihad, joined the Brigades and graduated in military action. He succeeded Al-Jabri in the Northern Region Command and represented the Brigades in the Joint Operations Room.
He has a clear imprint in the field of military industrialization, and he survived several assassination attempts, some of which he was wounded, before he rose to martyrdom when his house was bombed, as Israel accuses him of being responsible for the missile launches.
--Martyr Tariq Ezz El-Din “Abu Muhammad”
The Brigades described him as one of the leaders of the Brigades’ military action in the West Bank. He was a prisoner deported to Gaza as part of the Wafaa al-Ahrar deal (the Shalit deal). He was born in Arraba, Jenin Governorate, in 1974, and he joined the Jihad at an early age.
The occupation arrested him in 2002 for his prominent role in establishing military cells, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment, before his liberation in 2011. From Gaza, he supervised directing military operations against the occupation in the West Bank.
Martyr Ali Ghali “Abu Muhammad”
A member of the Military Council and commander of the missile unit, he was born in the city of Khan Yunis in 1975, and he joined the Jihad in the early nineties. He later joined the Brigades and was one of the first to join the martyrs’ groups.
He participated in the establishment of the missile unit, and he worked as its deputy in charge since 2010, before heading it to succeed Mansour, and supervised the training of its affiliates on “laying” and launching operations.
He survived several assassination attempts, most notably during the Battle of Saif al-Quds in May 2021, and was severely wounded at that time, while Israel succeeded in assassinating him at dawn yesterday, Thursday, May 11, by bombing an apartment he was in in Hamad Town, in the southern Gaza Strip, and Israel accuses him of being responsible. On orders to launch missiles.
Martyr Ahmed Abu Daqqa “Abu Hamza”
He was born in the eastern region in Khan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, and he is 43 years old. He joined the jihad early, then later joined the brigades, and rose to their leadership positions, while the military media contented themselves with announcing his obituary as the martyr commander and one of the most prominent brigade leaders, media sources say. He is the deputy of Martyr Ghali.
And according to sources in his family, to Al-Jazeera Net, an air strike targeted him, yesterday, Thursday, in an abandoned house, where he resorted to fortify himself in times of emergency and crisis.
After his assassination, Netanyahu boasted of his elimination and the martyr Ghali, describing them as the commander and his deputy in command of the missile unit of Jihad, which is responsible for firing rockets.
The succession of the martyrs
The organized military action of the Jihad movement went through several stages, starting with the “Saif al-Islam” and passing through the “section” and ending with the “Quds Brigades” as a military arm.
The “Quds Brigades” is the second force in terms of numbers and equipment after the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
The Saraya is an influential member of the Joint Operations Room, through a delegate representing the “Military Council”, which is shrouded in secrecy in terms of its formation and organizational structure.
Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Jihad spokesman Tariq Selmi said that the assassination of the leaders represents “a heavy loss, but the leader is succeeded by a leader, and their blood increases us with determination and strength to continue the march of jihad and resistance.”
Netanyahu had said that Israel dealt the strongest blow to jihad by assassinating its military leaders, but Salami stressed that “the enemy is delusional if he thinks that with these assassinations he has achieved his goals by eliminating jihad and resistance.”
Observers say that the brigades have proven their ability to absorb the shock of the assassinations, by continuing to launch rockets and increasing their range, which has resulted in Israeli deaths and injuries.
Hassan Abdo, an expert in strategic affairs, explains this by saying that its organizational structure gives it the ability to absorb blows, without affecting its ability to respond.
In his interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Abdo says, “The brigade’s leadership is not central, and in the absence of leaders in the military council, other leaders succeed them in responsibility and managing the battle.”
