GAZA – The assassination of Tayseer al-Jabari, a member of the military council of the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, in August last year was the prelude to a series of systematic assassinations by the Israeli occupation to liquidate the movement's military leaders.

In the same way as the assassination of Jabari, a group of other members of the military council of the Islamic Jihad movement were martyred through guided missiles that raided them inside their homes, where 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 to which the absence of commanders affects the organizational structure and military performance of the Al-Quds Brigades.


The martyr Tayseer Jabari "Abu Mahmoud"

Israel assassinated him on August 2022, <>, by targeting his home in the Palestine Tower in the middle of the Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City.

Born in 1972, married with 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 with its old name "Islamic Mujahideen Forces – Section".

His career with the Saraya began with the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000, and he rose in its leadership positions until he was assigned deputy commander of the Gaza Brigade, the martyr Bahaa Abu al-Ata, who preceded him to testify in a similar assassination in late 2019.

In 2012, he became a member of the military council, an official of the Central Military Operations Unit, and following the assassination of Abu al-Atta, his successor in the Northern Command, oversaw the development of military capabilities in this region.

Before Israel's success in assassinating him, he survived two assassination attempts in 2012 and 2014, and according to military media, during his career he supervised military operations on the outskirts of Gaza, some of which resulted in the killing and wounding of Israeli soldiers, and the order to launch rockets.

Martyr Khaled Mansour "Abu Mansour"

A member of the military council, commander of the Southern Command, and head of the rocket unit, Israel assassinated him the day after Jabari's assassination in 2022, in an airstrike on a residential house where he was holed up in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah.

Born in 1975 to a refugee family, he is married to 3 women, of whom he has 8 males, the eldest of whom is "Mansour", and 5 females.

He joined jihad in 1987, and joined the first military apparatus under the name of "Saif al-Islam", and then the second apparatus "Qassam", and contributed to the establishment of companies, the formation of military cells and the training of their members, and has fingerprints in the field of manufacturing local missiles and developing their capabilities.


The martyr Jihad Al-Ghannam "Abu Muhammad"

One of the three leaders assassinated by the Israeli occupation at dawn on the ninth of May, the secretary of the military council, was born in the city of Rafah in 1961 to a refugee family, resisted the occupation at an early age, and was chased by the occupation forces and expelled from Palestine.

According to the military media of the Saraya, Ghannam joined the movement in the late eighties, where he met with the founder martyr Fathi Shikaqi, who assigned him to train the movement's mujahideen in Sudan and Lebanon.

He participated in the establishment of the Brigades, contributed to the training of resistance fighters, supervised martyrdom operations, and had a role in supplying the resistance with qualitative weapons, recruiting military cells in the West Bank, and taking over from Mansour in charge of commanding the southern region.

He survived 5 assassination attempts, the most serious of which was in 2014, where his mother, siblings and cousins were martyred, and in 2001 he suffered a serious injury due to which he lost his legs and part of his hands, and his house was bombed repeatedly in previous battles.

The martyr Khalil Al-Bahtini "Abu Hadi"

A member of the Military Council, born in 1978 in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, he belonged early to jihad, joined the companies and progressed to military work, and succeeded Jabari in the Northern Region Command and represented the companies 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 were wounded, before rising as a martyr by bombing his home, where Israel accuses him of responsibility for the rocket fires.

The martyr Tariq Ezz El-Din "Abu Muhammad"

The Saraya described him as one of the commanders of the military action of the Saraya in the West Bank, a prisoner deported to Gaza as part of the Wafaa al-Ahrar deal (the Shalit deal), born in Araba, Jenin governorate in 1974, and belonged to jihad at an early age.

He was arrested by the occupation in 2002 for his prominent role in establishing military cells, and sentenced to life imprisonment, before his liberation in 2011, and from Gaza he supervised directing military operations against the occupation in the West Bank.


The 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 belonged to the jihad in the early nineties, and later joined the companies and was one of the first to join the groups of martyrs.

He co-founded the missile unit and served as its deputy official since 2010, before heading it from Mansour, and overseeing the training of its affiliates on "bleaching" and launching operations.

He survived several assassination attempts, most notably during the Battle of Sword of Jerusalem in May 2021, and was seriously wounded, while Israel succeeded in assassinating him at dawn on Thursday, May 11, by bombing an apartment in which he was located in Hamad Town in the southern Gaza Strip, and Israel accuses him of responsibility for the orders to launch rockets.

The martyr Ahmed Abu Daqqa "Abu Hamza"

Born in the eastern region in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, he is (43 years old), and joined early jihad, to later join the companies, and included in their leadership positions, and while the military media was satisfied in a communication obituary as the martyr commander and one of the most prominent commanders of the companies, media sources say that he is the deputy of the martyr Ghali.

According to sources in his family to Al Jazeera Net, an air strike targeted him, on Thursday, in an abandoned house, where he resorts to fortify himself in times of emergency and crisis.

After his assassination, Netanyahu boasted of his and Ghali's liquidation, describing them as the commander and deputy in command of the Jihad rocket unit, which is responsible for launching the rockets.


Succession of Martyrs

The organized military action of the Jihad movement went through several stages, starting with "Saif al-Islam" through "Qesme" to "Al-Quds Brigades" as a military arm.

The Al-Quds Brigades is the second largest force in terms of equipment 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 representative representing the "military council", which is surrounded by secrecy in terms of its composition and organizational structure.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Jihad spokesman Tariq Salmi said that the assassination of leaders represents "a heavy loss, but the leader succeeds him leader, and their blood increases our determination and strength to continue the march of jihad and resistance."

Netanyahu had said that Israel had dealt the strongest blow to jihad by assassinating its military leaders, but Salmi stressed that "the enemy is delusional if he thinks that with these assassinations he has achieved his goals of eliminating jihad and resistance."

Observers say that the Saraya has proven its ability to absorb the shock of assassinations, by continuing rocket launches, increasing their range, and causing an impact on Israeli deaths and injuries.

Strategic affairs expert Hassan Abdo explains that its organizational structure gives it the ability to absorb blows, without affecting its ability to respond.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Abdo says that "the leadership of the companies is not centralized, and in the absence of leaders in the military council, they are succeeded in responsibility and battle management by other leaders."