5/28/2024–|Last updated: 5/28/202412:38 AM (Mecca time)
Mahmoud Al-Khawaja is a Palestinian leader in the Islamic Jihad movement. He was born in 1960. He graduated from the Islamic University. He was one of the leaders of the Jihad movement in the Beach camp. He founded its military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades – which was then called “Department” – and was responsible for planning a number of guerrilla operations that It led to the death of dozens of Israelis. Israel assassinated him in 1995 in response to the Beit Lid operation.
Birth and upbringing
Mahmoud Arafat Ibrahim Al-Khawaja was born on January 27, 1960, in Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, to a family that had been displaced from the village of Hamama, known as a family of resistance and jihad. His father was arrested for a period of time as a result of his resistance to the Israeli occupation. His uncle was killed by the occupation forces, which left a great impression on him.
Mahmoud was known in Beach Camp for his commitment and good relations with the people of the camp, and for supporting the oppressed. He was also known for his humility and dedication to work, and he was keen to participate in reform committees and settle disputes between factions in the camp during the first intifada.
He loved bodybuilding and weightlifting, and he practiced it constantly. Because of his intense love for it, he opened a gym to train young people in it.
Study and scientific training
He received his primary and preparatory education in the schools of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and studied secondary school in Palestine Secondary School in Gaza City, and finished his school studies with a secondary school certificate from the scientific stream in 1981.
He continued his university studies at the Islamic University in Gaza City, where he graduated from the Faculty of Fundamentals of Religion in 1985. He then completed postgraduate studies and studied a diploma in education in the Department of Postgraduate Studies and graduated from the same university in 1993.
Belonging and organization
Al-Khawaja began his jihadist experience when he joined the Muslim Brotherhood in his youth, and was influenced by Khalil Al-Quqa and Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Then he joined the Islamic Jihad movement in 1981 alongside the founder, Fathi Al-Shaqaqi, and was active in the movement and its activities.
He became involved in student work during his university studies, and headed the student bloc affiliated with the Islamic Jihad Movement at the university.
Military experience
Mahmoud Al-Khawaja was appointed responsible for the Islamic Jihad movement in Al-Shati Camp. He was active during the first intifada, and was known for confronting the occupation forces. His greatest concern was establishing a military apparatus for the movement. He planned the matter and cooperated with his colleagues, until he established the military apparatus, which was known at the time as the “Mujahid Islamic Forces.” It was called “Department” for short.
Then he began planning guerrilla operations in response to the occupation, and supervised a number of them through training, planning, follow-up, and monitoring. Among these operations were:
Ashdod operation
It was a martyrdom operation carried out by the martyr Ali Al-Aymawi from Al-Shati Camp, targeting a gathering of Israeli soldiers in Ashdod on April 7, 1990, and led to the killing of two Israeli officers and the wounding of at least 20 others.
Al-Khawaja supervised the training of the guerrilla, and taught him the arts of confrontation and shooting. He was greatly influenced by the guerrilla, Ali Al-Aymawi; He named his son after him and to preserve his memory.
Operation Netzarim
It was a guerrilla operation carried out by the martyr Hisham Hamad from the Radwan neighborhood, on November 11, 1994. He targeted an Israeli military gathering in the middle of the Gaza Strip near the Netzarim settlement.
The perpetrator of the attack had targeted the gathering with his motorcycle loaded with explosives, and blew himself up among them, killing 3 soldiers and wounding 6 others.
Double lead process
It was an operation carried out by two guerrilla fighters, Anwar Sukkar and Salah Shaker, and planning for it began in a high degree of secrecy to ensure security and not to leak news about it. Only 5 people from the movement knew about the operation, headed by Al-Khawaja, an engineer, and some leaders for the necessities of arrangement, monitoring, and work, according to a documentary film published by the Al-Quds Brigades. 2017 about the operation.
The two perpetrators of the operation entered the areas controlled by the occupation forces separately, and they met for the first time after the Erez checkpoint (Beit Hanoun), then they met at the central bus station in Beit Lid.
The two perpetrators wore Israeli military clothing so that they could pass without being known or suspected, and they approached a group of Israeli Air Force soldiers who were waiting to go to their military base.
The operation was carried out on November 22, 1995, and began when Anwar Sukkar blew himself up with a group of soldiers. The rest of them rushed to check on some of them and treat the wounded. Within a few minutes, the second commando, Salah Shaker, came forward and blew himself up with the rest. It was planned that a third martyr would follow them to the same place and blow up the He joined another group, but he was late for them for technical reasons, according to what was mentioned in the film.
The Beit Lid operation led to the killing of more than 22 Israelis and the injury of more than 60 others. It was the first double guerrilla operation in the history of the Al-Quds Brigades, and Israel responded by assassinating everyone who had a hand in it, led by Mahmoud Al-Khawaja.
Arrest
Al-Khawaja was arrested several times, the first of which was in 1973 when the occupation detained him for 21 days. Then the arrests continued until they reached ten times, one of which was with his father on the same charge, which was resisting the occupation. The duration of his detention each time ranged between weeks and months, according to the charges. Which was directed at him.
The security services of the Palestinian National Authority also arrested him twice during 1994.
Assassination
Al-Khawaja was pursued for a period of time in 1955, until the occupation soldiers were able to assassinate him on June 22, 1995, by shooting, wounding him with nine bullets.
Several years after the assassination, during an interview with Maariv newspaper, the deputy head of the Israeli Internal Security Agency (Shin Bet), Yitzhak Ilan, said that this agency assassinated one of the leaders of Islamic Jihad because of his involvement in planning the Beit Lid operation that killed 22 Israelis.
Ilan explained, “The Shin Bet did not take responsibility for the operation and did not mention its details,” and added that the assassination decision was issued by senior security and political leaders in Israel.
