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| Fathi Shaqaqi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1951 |
| Died | 26 October 1995 (aged 43-44) |
| Nationality | Palestinian |
Fathi Shaqaqi (Template:Lang-ar) (also Fathi Shikaki) (1951 – 26 October 1995), was the founder and leader of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine and a mastermind of suicide bombings in Israel.Along with Sheik Odeh (a.k.a. Abd Al Aziz Awda), he formed the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip during the 1970s, initially as a branch of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.
Biography
Fathi Shaqaqi was born in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip after his family fled from Zarnuqa. His mother died when he was fifteen.
He attended Bir Zeit University in the Palestine territories, where he studied mathematics. In 1970-1974, he taught mathematics in Jerusalem. In the 1970s he studied medicine in Cairo, graduating in 1981. He trained in pediatrics. While in Egypt, he was influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood. Until 1983, he worked as a doctor at Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem.
Fathi Shaqaqi's brother Khalil is the director of the Nablus-based Center for Palestine Research and Studies, established in 1993.
In an interview in January 1995 with Robert Fisk, Shaqaqi laughingly boasted of the Beit Lid massacre carried out under his direction that killed 21 Israelis. He called it "the biggest military attack ever inside Palestine," and giggled when asked if he knew about the attack in advance.
Shaqaqi spoke Hebrew and kept a Hebrew dictionary on the bookshelf at his office decorated with photographs of suicide bombers on the outskirts of Damascus.
Assassination
Shaqaqi was shot on 26 October 1995 in front of the Diplomat Hotel in Sliema, Malta by a hit-team composed of two Mossad gunmen. Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).>
Shaqaqi had been travelling under the false name Dr. Ibrahim Ali Shawesh. He was on his way back from Tripoli after visiting Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi who promised to help finance Shaqaqi’s factions. His assassination produced disarray in Islamic Jihad since no competent successor could replace Shaqaqi.Islamic Jihad sources in Gaza confirmed that Shiqaqi had been traveling from Libya to his home in Damascus and made a stopover in Malta.
According to an account in the Telegraph, two men, Gil and Ran, arrived in Malta on a late-afternoon flight, after receiving new passports respectively in Rome and Athens from local assistants (sayan), and checked into the Diplomat Hotel where Shaqaqi was staying. Another local sayan provided Ran with a motorcycle, which he told hotel staff he planned to use for touring the island. At the same time, a freighter from Haifa radioed the Maltese harbour authorities that it had developed engine trouble and would need to anchor off the island for repairs. A team of Mossad communications technicians on board sent the agents instructions through a radio in Gil's suitcase. These two kidon then drove up on the motorcycle while Shaqaqi was strolling along the waterfront and one of them, Gil, shot him six times in the head, a 'kidon signature'.
Mossad Director-General Shabtai Shavit was reportedly on the ship from where he personally directed the operation. The Maltese police were only able to identify Shaqaqi's body three days later. His funeral in Damascus on 1 November 1995 was attended by some 40,000.
Since Shaqaqi's death, Palestinian Islamic Jihad has been led by fellow co-founder Sheikh Abdullah Ramadan Shallah, a.k.a. Ramadan Abdullah Mohammad Shallah, who then joined the earlier listing of fellow PIJ co-founder Abd Al Aziz Awda as a "Specially Designated Terrorist" under United States law on 27 November 1995. Both Shallah and Awda were subsequently indicted on 53 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges, and consequently became two of the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists on 24 February 2006.
See also
References
- "Palestinians swear revenge for assassination". Herald Journal. Gaza City. 28 October 1995. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
- Who Are the Islamic Jihad? BBC 9 June 2003
- My Life is a Weapon: A Modern History of Suicide Bombing, Christoph Reuter
- Encyclopedia of Modern Worldwide Extremists and Extremist Groups, Stephen E. Atkins
- ^ "Fathi Shiqaqi". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
- My Life is a Weapon: A Modern History of Suicide Bombing, Christoph Reuter
- "As Tough as Iron 5: Fathi Shaqaqi". IBNA. 28 April 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
- The doctor who finds death a laughing matter
- Khalil Khikaki and his role in the formation of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad network in the United States
- The doctor who finds death a laughing matter
- The doctor who finds death a laughing matter
- Gordon Thomas, Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad, Macmillan (1999) 2010 pp.115-123.
- Countering the New Terrorism, Ian Lesser, John Arquilla, Bruce Hoffman, David F. Ronfeldt, Michele Zanini
- Malta and the Accused Mathaba
- Mossad's Licence to Kill The Telegraph, 17 February 2010.
- David, Steven R. (2003). "Israel's Policy of Targeted Killing" (PDF). Ethics & International Affairs. 17 (1). Retrieved 26 July 2012.
- Leader of Islamic Jihad Reported Killed in Malta
- Mossad's licence to kill
- Bio of Fathi Shiqaqi from the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, Jerusalem