An engineer by training, not known to the public in Israel, leads in elections for Hamas leadership in Gaza • Awadallah, considered the one who carried out the Shalit deal, close to Iran and Ismail Haniyeh • If elected, Hamas' military wing, loyal to Sinwar, may not accept the results
Hamas fighters Gaza
Photo:
IPI
The drama in the elections for the leadership of Hamas in the Gaza Strip reveals to the public in Israel a new figure, who may take the reins of the terrorist organization.
"Nizar Awadallah was born in the Gaza Strip in the 1950s to a family that moved there from the village of Hamama following the War of Independence," Dr. Michael Barak, a senior researcher at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism Policy at the Interdisciplinary Center (ICT) in Herzliya, told Israel Today.
"His father was a sage in al-Azhar in Egypt. He is married with six children, and has a degree in civil engineering from Ein Shams University in Cairo since 1981. He is one of the founders of Hamas with Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and is considered one of the leaders who more support military opposition to Israel.
Awadallah was a friend of 'Abd al-'Aziz Rantisi (one of the founders of the Hamas movement, D.S.), and served as the general secretary of al-Majama al-Islami from 2000-1982 1973 by Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, and was the branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gaza Strip. "
According to Dr. Barak, even before the establishment of Hamas' military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassem Brigades, Nazar Awadla headed the Hamas military apparatus then known as the "Palestinian Mujahideen."
He said, "The person who founded the 'Palestinian Mujahideen' is Salah Shehadeh, and after he was arrested by Israel in 1987 - Awadla took his place. He was later arrested himself."
After being released from prison in Israel, Awadla was previously a member of the Hamas Politburo - and is currently a member of the Politburo.
"He is close to Ismail Haniyeh and flies with him to delegations, as well as having close ties to Iran," Dr. Barak noted of a man considered a "Shalit deal engineer" in 2011.
In 2009 and 2014, Israel bombed his home.
"Awadla is considered an influential figure of Hamas, a founding figure," Dr. Barak concluded.
