Fathi Hamad

Fathi Hamad (Arabic: فتحي حماد‎‎), also spelled as Fathi Hammad, is a political leader of Hamas. In April 2009, he was appointed the new interior minister in the Gaza Strip, replacing Said Seyam who was assassinated by Israel in the 2008-09 Gaza War.[1][2] Hamad became a Hamas-affiliated member of the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006, representing his home town of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza. He also leads the Hamas Public Affairs Department and is the director of Al-Aqsa TV, the Hamas-run television station.[1]

In November 2009, Waad, a Gaza charity headed by Hamad, offered a $1.4 million bounty to any Arab citizen of Israel who abducts an Israeli soldier. While Palestinian militant groups have frequently called on Arab-Israelis to capture soldiers, this marked the first time money had been offered.[3]

Hamad's is ill three-year-old daughter was sent to Jordan for medical treatment through the Israeli-controlled Erez Crossing. For initial medical treatment, she was first sent to Barzilai Hospital in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. Her subsequent transfer to Jordan was authorized by then Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak and the then IDF Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, at the request of the Jordanian king Abdullah.[4]

A speech made by Hamad broadcast on Al-Aqsa TV in February 2008 has been used as evidence by Israel and others that Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups make use of human shields.[5][6][7][8] In an interview which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on 14 December 2010 (as translated by MEMRI), Hamad stated that Hamas receives support.[9]

In a speech broadcast on Egyptian Al-Helma TV on March 23, 2012, Fathi Hamas condemned Egypt over the fuel shortage in the Gaza Strip and stated, "Half of the Palestinians are Egyptians and the other half are Saudis." [10]

References

  1. 1 2 Hamas officially announces Fathi Hamad new Interior Minister. Palestinian Press, 27 April 2009
  2. ↑ New Hamas cabinet approved by lawmakers. Ma'an, 27 August 2012
  3. ↑ "Hamas-linked group offers cash reward for capture of IDF soldiers". Haaretz. Associated Press. 20 November 2009.
  4. ↑ "News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (April 22-27, 2010)". Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. 28 April 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  5. ↑ "Video: Hamas uses civilians as a means to achieving military goals". Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 11 January 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  6. ↑ Landes, Richard (December 2009). "Goldstone's Gaza Report: Part One: A Failure of Intelligence". Middle East Review of International Affairs. Global Research in International Affairs Center (GLORIA). 13 (4). Archived from the original on 2010-04-13.
  7. ↑ Itamar Marcus, Barbara Crook and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (2009-09-16). "Eye-witnesses: Hamas used human shields in Gaza war". Palestinian Media Watch. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  8. ↑ Alan M. Dershowitz (16 September 2009). "UN Investigation of Israel Discredits Itself and Undercuts Human Rights". Hudson New York. Hudson Institute. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  9. ↑ Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hammad: The Americans and the Jews Are Abhorred Worldwide; The Americans Are Led by the Jews, "Outcasts Who Live Off Corruption and Plundering", MEMRITV, 14 December 2010, Clip No. 2734.
  10. ↑ Hamas Minister of the Interior and of National Security Fathi Hammad Slams Egypt over Fuel Shortage in Gaza Strip, and Says: "Half of the Palestinians Are Egyptians and the Other Half Are Saudis," Memritv Clip 3389, http://www.memri.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/3389.htm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAfENxzv2mc
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