Fadi Kafisha (died August 31, 2006) was the head of the

Tanzim ''Tanzim'' ( ar, تنظيم ', "Organization") is a militant faction of the Palestinian Fatah movement. Overview The Tanzim militia, founded in 1995 by Yasser Arafat and other Fatah leaders to counter Palestinian Islamism, is widely consider ...

Nablus Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...

. Kafisha was responsible for organizing many suicide bombings and other attacks on

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

is and creating many

explosive belt An explosive belt (also called suicide belt or a suicide vest) is an improvised explosive device, a belt or a vest packed with explosives and armed with a detonator, worn by suicide bombers. Explosive belts are usually packed with ball bearings, ...

In 2004 Kafisha was wounded during a confrontation with

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

soldiers and his arm was

amputated Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indiv ...

. His contact in Lebanon working for

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

, Kais Ubaid, sent him an artificial arm from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Apparently, Kafisha continued to lead the Nablus

Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades () is a coalition of Palestinian armed groups in the West Bank. The organization has been designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the European Union, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States. L ...

with this arm. During another attempt to capture Kafisha it is alleged he lost his eye. During the

al-Aqsa Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel. ...

Kafisha took the leading initiative in preparing terror attacks on Israelis, yet the military checkpoints surrounding Nablus denied most of them exit, and Kafisha's activities were frustrated. Though overshadowed by more publicity-friendly terrorists like

Zakaria Zubeidi Zakaria Muhammad 'Abdelrahman Zubeidi ( ar, زكريا محمد عبد الرحمن الزبيدي; other spellings include Zakariyah Zbeidi, Zacharia and Zubaidi) (born 1976) is the former Jenin chief of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. He is co ...

, Kafisha was instrumental in transforming Nablus into the "terror capital of the West Bank," and when he was killed the Brigades were already planning a wave of terror attacks against Israeli civil and military targets on the West Bank. On July 17, 2006, a bomb attack in Nablus organized by Kafisha killed an Israeli soldier and wounded six others. On August 31, 2006, Kafisha was killed during a random

ambush An ambush is a long-established military tactics, military tactic in which a combatant uses an advantage of concealment or the element of surprise to attack unsuspecting enemy combatants from concealed positions, such as among dense underbru ...

by the Israeli 93rd "Haruv"

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

of the

Kfir Brigade The 900th "Kfir" Brigade ( he, חֲטִיבַת כְּפִיר, ''lit.'' "Lion Cub Brigade"), is the youngest and largest infantry brigade of the Israel Defense Forces. It is subordinate to the 340th "Idan" Armoured Division of Israel's Centra ...

. The killing of Kafisha was unexpected, in that he had been in hiding for much of the past decade, and only later did the Israelis discover that they had killed the man described as the most-wanted man in the West Bank. Kafisha's status placed him only behind the leaders of Hamas's

Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades ( ar, كتائب الشهيد عز الدين القسام, , Battalions of martyr Izz ad-Din al-Qassam; also spelt Izzedine or Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades; often shortened to Al-Qassam Brigades, IQB

Mohammed Deif Mohammed Deif ( ar, محمّد ضيف ; born 1965 in Khan Younis), born Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, is a Palestinian chief of staff and supreme military commander of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. He has been Isra ...

and Ahmed al-Jabari of the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

in terms of notoriety in the Israeli intelligence wanted lineup.

References

Maariv report

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kafisha, Fadi Year of birth missing 2006 deaths Fatah military commanders People from Nablus