Ahmed Jabari, Palestinian commander (b. 1960)
Ahmed al-Jabari (Arabic: أحمد الجعبري; 1960 – (2012-11-14)14 November 2012; also known as Abu Mohammad) was a senior leader and second-in-command of the military wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. He was widely credited as the leading figure in the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, and commanded the 2006 Hamas cross-border raid which resulted in the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Under his command, along with chief logistics officer Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Hamas developed its own military weapons capability significantly by acquiring longer-range guided missiles and rockets.While at the Islamic University of Gaza, Jabari joined Fatah, a Palestinian organization that advocated for an armed struggle against Israel. In 1982, he was arrested by the Israeli authorities and imprisoned for 13 years. After being released he joined Fatah's Islamist rival Hamas' militant wing and was believed to have been involved in the bombing of a bus in Kfar Darom, following which he was arrested by the Preventive Security Force of the Palestinian Authority in 1998, being released the following year. In 2002, Jabari became the acting operational head of Hamas' military wing when Mohammad Deif was seriously wounded in an Israeli airstrike. In this position Jabari was also a high-ranking official within Hamas' political leadership, as well as the founder of the Nur Association, which aimed to help "martyrs and prisoners."The Israeli Air Force and Shin Bet conducted a targeted precision air strike on 14 November 2012, a part of Operation Pillar of Defense, killing Jabari while he was travelling in a car. The decision to liquidate him, according to Haaretz analyst Reuven Pedatzur, arose from a decision by Israeli military to attack Hamas rather than seek a ceasefire. Jabari was the highest-level Hamas official killed in Gaza since the 2008 Gaza War.