Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Yassin was born in the village of Al-Jora, Majdal
district, in 1938 and sought refuge alongside his family in the nearby Gaza
Strip following the 1948 Nakba or the usurpation of most of Palestine at the
hands of Zionist gangs.
The Sheikh was paralyzed in his youth as a result of an accident while
exercising on the beaches of Gaza.
He worked as a teacher of Arabic language and Islamic religion then as a
Khatib (preacher) and teacher in the Gaza mosques. He turned into one of the
most vociferous and most famous Khatibs in the Gaza Strip following its
occupation in 1967.
He also worked as a chairman of the Islamic Complex in Gaza before his
arrest in 1983 for possession of weapons, establishing a military
organization and championing the annihilation of the Hebrew state. The
Sheikh was court-martialed and the Israeli judges passed a 13 years prison
term against him.
He was released in 1985 in line with a prisoners’ exchange deal between the
Zionist authorities and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine –
The General Command after spending 11 months in prison.
The Sheikh founded the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, along with a
number of Islamic activists in the Gaza Strip in 1987.
Zionist occupation forces broke into and ransacked his house in late August
1988 and threatened to push him along with his wheelchair across the borders
into Lebanon.
On the evening of 18/5/1989 the occupation authorities arrested Sheikh Ahmed
Yassin along with hundreds of Hamas activists in a desperate attempt to curb
the armed resistance that started to take the form of attacks on settlers
and soldiers.
On 16/10/1991 a Israeli army court passed a life sentence in addition to 15
years imprisonment sentence against Sheikh Ahmed Yassin after an indictment
list leveled nine charges against him including inciting the kidnap and
killing of Israeli soldiers and the establishment of the Hamas Movement’s
security and military wings.
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, other than his complete paralysis, suffered a number of
other disabilities and diseases including loss of eyesight in his right eye
due to Israeli blows during interrogation in addition to weakness in his
left eye. He also suffered from chronic inflammation in his ear, lung
infection and other diseases in his abdomen.
The detention of the Sheikh in jails further worsened his health
conditions, which necessitated carrying him to hospital on numerous
occasions.
On 13/12/1992 a commando cell affiliated with the Qassam Brigades, military
wing of Hamas, kidnapped an Israeli soldier and offered to set him free in
return for the release of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and a number of other
detainees in jails including sick and elderly and Arab captives.
However, the Israeli government refused the offer and stormed the house
where the soldier was held leading to his death along with commander of the
attacking unit and two other soldiers before the martyrdom of the three
members of that cell in Bir Nabala near occupied Jerusalem.
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was released on 1/10/1997 in accordance with an
agreement between Jordan and the Israel that stipulated the release
of the Sheikh in return for delivering to Tel Aviv two intelligence
agents, who were arrested in Jordan following an aborted assassination
attempt of Khaled Mishaal, political bureau chief of the Hamas Movement.
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