Marwan Issa

Marwan Abdel Karim Ali Issa (Arabic: مروان عبد الكريم علي عيسى, romanized: Marwān ʿAbd al-Karīm ʿAlī ʿĪsā; 1965 – 10 March 2024) was a Palestinian militant who was the deputy commander of Hamas' military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades. Issa was born in the Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip in 1965. He was educated at the Islamic University of Gaza, and played basketball for Al-Bureij Services Club. He was arrested in 1987 during the First Intifada for his involvement with Hamas. He was detained by the Palestinian Authority from 1997 to 2000, and released after the outbreak of the Second Intifada. He 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. He reported to Mohammed Deif. He was placed on the terror watchlist of the United States in 2019 and the European Union in 2023. Issa was said to have had a major role in planning the October 7 attacks. On 10 March 2024, he was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Nuseirat during the 2023 Gaza War.