Khalil Ibrahim al-Wazir
[ Standardized Arabic transliteration: '' / / ''] ( ar, خليل إبراهيم الوزير, also known by his ''
kunya'' Abu Jihad
[Standardized Arabic transliteration: '] —"Jihad's Father"; 10 October 1935 – 16 April 1988) was a
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
leader and co-founder of the
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
party
Fatah. As a top aide of
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
Chairman Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
, al-Wazir had considerable influence in Fatah's military activities, eventually becoming the commander of Fatah's armed wing
al-Assifa.
Al-Wazir became a
refugee when his family was expelled from Ramla during the
1948 Arab–Israeli War, and began leading a minor ''
fedayeen'' force in 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 the early 1960s he established connections for Fatah with
Communist regimes and prominent third-world leaders. He opened Fatah's first bureau in
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
. He played an important role in the 1970–71
Black September clashes in
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, by supplying besieged Palestinian fighters with weapons and aid. Following the PLO's defeat by the
Jordanian Army
The Royal Jordanian Army (Arabic: القوّات البرية الاردنيّة; ) is the Army, ground force branch of the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF). It draws its origins from units such as the Arab Legion, formed in the Emirate of Transjord ...
, al-Wazir joined the PLO in
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
.
Prior to and during
Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, al-Wazir planned
numerous attacks inside Israel against both civilian and military targets. He prepared
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
's defense against incoming Israeli forces. Nonetheless, the Israeli military prevailed and al-Wazir was exiled from Lebanon with the rest of the Fatah leadership. He settled in
Amman for a two-year period and was then exiled to
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
in 1986. From his base there, he started to organize youth committees in the
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The ...
; these eventually formed a major component of the Palestinian forces in the
First Intifada. However, he did not live to command the uprising. On 16 April 1988, he was assassinated at his home in Tunis by Israeli commandos.
Early life
Khalil al-Wazir was born in 1935 to
Muslim parents in the city of
Ramla
Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations.
The city was f ...
,
Palestine, then under
British Mandatory rule. His father, Ibrahim al-Wazir, worked as a grocer in the city.
[Khalil al-Wazir Biography: Article abstract](_blank)
ENotes Incorporate. Al-Wazir and his family were
expelled in July 1948, along with another 50,000–70,000 Palestinians from Lydda and Ramla, following Israel's
capture of the area during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
[Morris 2004, p. 425]
They settled in the
Bureij
Bureij ( ar, البريج) is a Palestinian refugee camp located in the central Gaza Strip east of the Salah al-Din Road in the Deir al-Balah Governorate. The camp's total land area is 529 dunums and in 2005, it had a population of 34,951 with ...
refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, where al-Wazir attended a secondary school run by
UNRWA
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians displaced by the 1948 ...
. While in high school, he began organizing a small group of ''
fedayeen'' to harass Israelis at military posts near the Gaza Strip and the
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is ...
.
In 1954 he came into contact with
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
in
Gaza; al-Wazir would become Arafat's right-hand man later in his life. During his time in Gaza, al-Wazir became a member of the
Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood,
and was briefly imprisoned for his membership with the organization, as it was prohibited in Egypt.
In 1956, a few months after his release from prison, he received military training in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
.
He also studied
architectural engineering
Architectural engineers apply and theoretical knowledge to the engineering design of buildings and building systems. The goal is to engineer high performance buildings that are sustainable, economically viable and ensure the safety health.
Archi ...
at the
University of Alexandria
Alexandria University ( ar, جامعة الإسكندرية) is a public university in Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1938 as a satellite of Fouad University (the name of which was later changed to Cairo University), becoming an indepen ...
,
[ International Press Center. 16 April 2004] but he did not graduate. Al-Wazir was detained once again in 1957 for leading
raids against Israel and was exiled to
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, finding work as a schoolteacher.
He continued to teach after moving to
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
in 1959.
Formation of Fatah
Al-Wazir used his time in Kuwait to further his ties with Arafat and other fellow Palestinian exiles he had met in Egypt. He and his comrades founded
Fatah, a
Palestinian nationalist guerrilla and political organization, sometime between 1959 and 1960.
He moved to
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
after being put in charge of editing the newly formed organization's monthly magazine ''Filastinuna, Nida' al-Hayat'' ("Our Palestine, the Call to Life"), as he was "the only one with a flair for writing."
He settled in
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
in 1962, after a delegation of Fatah leaders, including Arafat and
Farouk Kaddoumi, were invited there by
Algerian President
The president of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria is the head of state and chief executive of Algeria, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Algerian People's National Armed Forces.
History of the office
The Tripoli Program, whi ...
Ahmed Ben Bella
Ahmed Ben Bella ( ar, أحمد بن بلّة '; 25 December 1916 – 11 April 2012) was an Algerian politician, soldier and socialist revolutionary who served as the head of government of Algeria from 27 September 1962 to 15 September 1963 ...
. Al-Wazir remained there, opened a Fatah office and military training camp in
Algiers and was included in an Algerian-Fatah delegation to
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
in 1964.
During his visit, he presented Fatah's ideas to various leaders of the People's Republic of China, including premier
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...
,
[Palestine Facts: 1963–1988](_blank)
(PASSIA) and thus inaugurated Fatah's good relationship with China. He also toured other
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...
n countries, establishing relations with
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
and the
Viet Cong
,
, war = the Vietnam War
, image = FNL Flag.svg
, caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green.
, active ...
.
Al-Wazir supposedly "charmed
" during Guevara's speech in Algiers.
With his guerrilla credentials and his contacts with arms-supplying nations, he was assigned the role of recruiting and training fighters, thus establishing Fatah's armed wing ''
al-Assifa'' (the Storm).
[Palestine Biography: Khalil al-Wazir](_blank)
Shashaa, Esam, Palestine History. While in Algiers, he recruited
Abu Ali Iyad
Walid Ahmad Nimr ( ar, وليد أحمد نمر ; 1934 – July 23, 1971), better known by his ''nom de guerre'' Abu Ali Iyad ( ar, أبو علي إياد), was a senior Palestinian field commander based in Syria and Jordan during the 1960s and ...
who became his deputy and one of the high-ranking commanders of al-Assifa in Syria and Jordan.
Syria and post-Six-Day War
Al-Wazir and the Fatah leadership settled in
Damascus,
Syria in 1965, in order take advantage of the large number of
Palestine Liberation Army
The Palestine Liberation Army (PLA, ar, جيش التحرير الفلسطيني, ''Jaysh at-Tahrir al-Filastini'') is ostensibly the military wing of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), set up at the 1964 Arab League summit held in A ...
(PLA) members there. On 9 May 1966, he and Arafat were detained by Syrian police loyal to air marshal
Hafez al-Assad after an incident where a pro-Syrian Palestinian leader,
Yusuf Orabi was thrown out of the window of a three-story building and killed. Al-Wazir and Arafat were either considering uniting Fatah with Orabi's faction—the Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Palestine—or winning Orabi's support against Arafat's rivals within the Fatah leadership. An argument occurred, eventually leading to Orabi's murder; however, al-Wazir and Arafat had already left the scene shortly before the incident. According to Aburish, Orabi and Assad were "close friends" and Assad appointed a panel to investigate what happened. The panel found both Arafat and al-Wazir guilty, but
Salah Jadid
Salah Jadid (1926 – 19 August 1993, ar, صلاح جديد, Ṣalāḥ Jadīd) was a Syrian general, a leader of the left-wing of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in Syria, and the country's ''de facto'' leader from 1966 until 1970, when h ...
, then Deputy Secretary-General of the
President of Syria
The president of Syria, officially the president of the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic: رئيس سوريا) is the head of state of the Syria, Syrian Arab Republic. They are vested with sweeping powers that may be delegated, at their sole discreti ...
, pardoned them.
After the defeat of a coalition of Arab states in the 1967
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...
, major Palestinian guerrilla organizations that participated in the war or were sponsored by any of the involved Arab states, such as the
Arab Nationalist Movement
The Arab Nationalist Movement ( ar, حركة القوميين العرب, ''Harakat al-Qawmiyyin al-Arab''), also known as the Movement of Arab Nationalists and the Harakiyyin, was a pan-Arab nationalist organization influential in much of the Ara ...
led by
George Habash and the
Palestine Liberation Army
The Palestine Liberation Army (PLA, ar, جيش التحرير الفلسطيني, ''Jaysh at-Tahrir al-Filastini'') is ostensibly the military wing of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), set up at the 1964 Arab League summit held in A ...
of
Ahmad Shukeiri
Ahmad al-Shukeiri ( ar, أحمد الشقيري, also transliterated al-Shuqayri, Shuqairi, Shuqeiri, Shukeiry; 1 January 1908 – 26 February 1980) was the first Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, serving from 1964–1967. ...
, lost considerable influence among the Palestinian population. This made Fatah the dominant faction of the
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). They gained 33 of 105 seats in the
Palestinian National Council (PNC) (the most seats allocated to any guerrilla group), thus strengthening al-Wazir's position. During the
Battle of Karameh
The Battle of Karameh ( ar, معركة الكرامة) was a 15-hour military engagement between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and combined forces of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) in the Jor ...
, in March 1968, he and Salah Khalaf held important command positions among Fatah fighters against the
Israeli Defense Forces
Israeli may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel
* Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel
* Modern Hebrew, a language
* ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008
* Guni Israeli (b ...
(IDF), which developed his credentials as a military strategist.
This eventually led to him taking command of ''al-Assifa'', holding major positions in the PNC,
and the Supreme Military Council of the PLO. He was also put in charge of
guerrilla warfare operations in both the
occupied Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The In ...
and Israel proper.
Black September and the Lebanon War
![Arafat, Nasser and Abu Jihad at Arab conference](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Arafat%2C_Nasser_and_Abu_Jihad_at_Arab_conference.jpg)
During the
Black September clashes in Jordan, al-Wazir supplied the encircled Palestinian forces in
Jerash
Jerash ( ar, جرش ''Ǧaraš''; grc, Γέρασα ''Gérasa'') is a city in northern Jordan. The city is the administrative center of the Jerash Governorate, and has a population of 50,745 as of 2015. It is located north of the capital city ...
and
Ajlun
Ajloun ( ar, عجلون, ''‘Ajlūn''), also spelled Ajlun, is the capital town of the Ajloun Governorate, a hilly town in the north of Jordan, located 76 kilometers (around 47 miles) north west of Amman. It is noted for its impressive ruins of t ...
with arms and aid,
but the conflict was decided in Jordan's favor. After Arafat and thousands of Fatah fighters retreated to
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
, al-Wazir negotiated an agreement between
King Hussein
Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family o ...
and the PLO's leading organizer, calling for better Palestinian conduct in Jordan.
Then, along with the other PLO leaders, he relocated to
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
.
Al-Wazir did not play a major role in the
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...
; he confined himself primarily to strengthening the
Lebanese National Movement
The Lebanese National Movement (LNM) ( ar, الحركة الوطنية اللبنانية, ''Al-Harakat al-Wataniyya al-Lubnaniyya'') or Mouvement National Libanais (MNL) in French, was a front of leftist, pan-Arabist and Syrian nationalist p ...
, the PLO's main ally in the conflict.
[ Excerpt provided by palestineremembered.co]
al-Wazir, Khalil
/ref> During the fall of the Tel al-Zaatar camp to the Lebanese Front
The Lebanese Front ( ar, الجبهة اللبنانية, ''al-Jabha al-Lubnaniyya'') or ''Front Libanais'' in French, was a coalition of mainly Lebanese Nationalist parties formed in 1976 by majority Christian intellectuals during the Leban ...
, al-Wazir blamed himself for not organizing a rescue effort.
During his time in Lebanon, al-Wazir was responsible for coordinating high-profile operations. He allegedly planned the Savoy Hotel attack
The Savoy Hotel attack was a terrorist attack by the Palestine Liberation Organization against the Savoy Hotel in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 4–5 March 1975.
Background
The operation was planned by Abu Jihad.
Initial Palestinian planning had cal ...
in 1975, in which eight Fatah militants raided and took civilian hostages in the Savoy hotel in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...
, killing eight of them, as well as three Israeli soldiers. The Coastal Road massacre, in March 1978, was also planned by al-Wazir. In this attack, six Fatah members hijacked a bus and killed 35 Israeli civilians.
When Israel besieged Beirut in 1982, al-Wazir, disagreed with the PLO's leftist members and Salah Khalaf; he proposed that the PLO pull out of Beirut. Nevertheless, al-Wazir and his aide Abu al-Walid planned Beirut's defense and helped direct PLO forces against the IDF. PLO forces were eventually defeated and then expelled from Lebanon, with most of the leadership relocating to Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
, although al-Wazir and 264 other PLO members were received by King Hussein of Jordan.
Establishing a movement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
Dissatisfied at the decisive defeat of Palestinian forces in Lebanon during the 1982 Lebanon War, al-Wazir concentrated on establishing a solid Fatah base in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. In 1982, he began to sponsor youth committees in the territories. These organizations would grow and initiate the First Intifada in December 1987 (the word ''Intifada'' in Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
, literally translated as "shaking off", is generally used to describe an uprising or revolt).
The Intifada began as an uprising of Palestinian youth against the Israeli occupation
Israeli-occupied territories are the lands that were captured and occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. While the term is currently applied to the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, it has also been used to refer to a ...
of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. On 7 June 1986, about a year before the Intifada started, al-Wazir was deported from Amman to Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
, eventually moving to Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
days after King Hussein declared that efforts in establishing a joint strategy for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict between Jordan and the PLO were over.
The first stage of the Intifada took place upon escalation of two unrelated incidents in the Gaza Strip. The first was a traffic incident at the Erez checkpoint, where an Israeli military vehicle hit a group of Palestinian laborers, killing four of them. The funerals, attended by 10,000 people from the camp that evening, quickly led to a large demonstration. Rumours swept the camp that the incident was an act of intentional retaliation for the second event - stabbing to death of an Israeli businessman, killed while shopping in Gaza two days earlier. Following the throwing of a petrol bomb at a passing patrol car in the Gaza Strip on the following day, Israeli forces, firing with live ammunition and tear gas canisters into angry crowds, shot one young Palestinian dead and wounded 16 others.
However, within weeks, following persistent requests by al-Wazir, the PLO attempted to direct the uprising, which lasted until 1991, or 1993, according to various authorities. Al-Wazir had been assigned by Arafat the responsibility of the territories within the PLO command. According to author Said Aburish
Said Aburish (full name Saʿīd Muḥammad Khalīl ʾAbū Rīsh) ( ar, سعيد محمد خليل أبو الريش; 1 May 1935 – 29 August 2012), was a Palestinian journalist and writer.
Aburish was born in al-Eizariya (also known as "Bethany") ...
, he had "impressive knowledge of local conditions" in the Israeli-occupied territories
Israeli-occupied territories are the lands that were captured and occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. While the term is currently applied to the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, it has also been used to refer to a ...
, apparently knowing "every village, school, and large family in Gaza and the West Bank". He provided the uprising with financial backing and logistical support, thus becoming its "brain in exile". Al-Wazir activated every cell he had set up in the territories since the late 1970s in an effort to militarily back the stone-throwers who formed the backbone of the Palestinian revolt. He also used the opportunity to reform the PLO. According to author Yezid Sayigh, al-Wazir believed that the Intifada should not have been sacrificed to Arafat solely for use as a diplomatic or political tool.
Assassination
Al-Wazir was assassinated in his home in Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
at 1.30 a.m. on 16 April 1988, at the age of 52. There are varying versions of his death. According to one he was shot on the landing of his house by a commando who pursued him upstairs when he ran there after hearing the shots that killed two security guards outside. A different version has it he was working on a memo to leaders of the Intifada, and only had time to fire off one shot from his pistol when the assassination squad burst into his rooms. He was shot at close range, reportedly 70 times, in the presence of his wife Intissar and his son Nidal, above whose bed a commando then fired a burst of automatic fire as a warning.[David Prat]
''Intifada,''
Casemate Publishers 2007 pp.38-9. Al-Wazir was assassinated by an Israeli commando team, reportedly ferried from Israel by boat, aided ashore by Mossad intelligence operatives, and using the IDs of Lebanese fisherman who had been kidnapped to gain access to the PLO compound. Israel accused al-Wazir of escalating the violence of the Intifada, which was ongoing at the time of his assassination. Specifically, it was claimed he was the architect of the triple bomb attack at a shopping mall. Riots immediately broke out in the Palestinian territories, and at least a dozen Palestinians were shot dead in the worst show of violence since the outbreak of the uprising. He was buried in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus on 21 April; Arafat led the funeral procession.
In 1997, the ''Maariv
''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and '' Amidah''.
The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms ...
'' newspaper reported on the assassination of al-Wazir. The report claimed that Ehud Barak led a seaborne command center on a navy missile boat
A missile boat or missile cutter is a small, fast warship armed with anti-ship missiles. Being smaller than other warships such as destroyers and frigates, missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming a navy at lower cost. They a ...
off the shore of Tunis that oversaw al-Wazir's assassination. Up until 1 November 2012, Israel however did not take official responsibility for his killing and government spokesman Moshe Fogel and aides to Barak declined to comment on the issue. According to the report, Barak, who was then a deputy military chief, coordinated the planning by the Mossad, as well as the army's intelligence branch, the air force
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...
, navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...
and the elite Sayeret Matkal
General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (formerly Unit 269 or Unit 262), more commonly known as Sayeret Matkal ( he, סיירת מטכ״ל) is the special reconnaissance unit (''sayeret'') of Israel's General Staff (''matkal''). It is the prime special ...
commando unit. Mossad intelligence agents watched al-Wazir's home for months before the raid. ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' reported on 21 April that the Israeli cabinet approved al-Wazir's assassination on 13 April and that it was coordinated between the Mossad and the IDF.
In 2013, Israel unofficially confirmed that it was responsible for his assassination, after an interview by Israeli correspondent Ronen Bergman
Ronen Bergman ( he, רונן ברגמן; born June 16, 1972) is an Israeli investigative journalist and author. He is a senior political and military analyst for ''Yedioth Ahronoth'', Israel's largest-circulation daily.
Bergman has written for ' ...
of Nahum Lev, the Sayeret Matkal
General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (formerly Unit 269 or Unit 262), more commonly known as Sayeret Matkal ( he, סיירת מטכ״ל) is the special reconnaissance unit (''sayeret'') of Israel's General Staff (''matkal''). It is the prime special ...
officer who led the raid, was cleared for publication – its release had been blocked by military censors for more than a decade. In that interview, Lev gave Bergman a detailed account of the operation.
The United States Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
condemned his killing as an "act of political assassination". The UN Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...
approved Resolution 611 condemning "the aggression perpetrated against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Tunisia", without specifically mentioning Israel.[List of United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Israel](_blank)
/ref>
Personal life
Al-Wazir married his cousin Intissar al-Wazir
Intissar al-Wazir ( ar, انتصار الوزير) (1941-) (also known as ''Umm Jihad'' أم جهاد) is a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and a former PNA minister. Her husband was Khalil al-Wazir, a senior figure of the Palestin ...
in 1962 and had five children with her. They had three sons, named Jihad, Bassem and Nidal, and two daughters, named Iman and Hanan al-Wazir. Intissar and her children returned to Gaza following the Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO and in 1996 she became the first female minister in the Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, . His son Jihad al-Wazir is formerly the Governor of the Palestinian Monetary Authority and currently works for the International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...
.
After Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, looters raided al-Wazir's home, reportedly stealing his personal belongings. Intissar al-Wazir said that the looting "occurred in broad daylight and under the watchful eye of Hamas militiamen."Looters raid Arafat's home, steal his Nobel Peace Prize
Khaled Abu Toameh
Khaled Abu Toameh ( ar, خالد أبو طعمة, he, חאלד אבו טועמה; born 1963) is an Israeli Arab journalist, lecturer and documentary filmmaker.
Abu Toameh writes for ''The Jerusalem Post'' and for the New York-based Gatestone ...
''The Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper ...
''. 16 June 2007 Accessed on 2008-02-22.
In 2012 Israel recognizes the killing of Abou Nidal, the assassination was executed by Moussad Commando "Kissiria" and the help of the commando unit Sayeret Matkal (AFP 1 November 2012)
See also
* List of Fatah members
Notes
References
* Morris, Benny (2004). ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited''. Cambridge University Press.
Bibliography
*
*
External links
*
Encyclopedia of the Palestinians: Biography of Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad)
, Phillip Mattar.
*
Official Abujihad Site
", Published By Sidata.
*
ABUJNA Abu Jihad Palestinian News Agency, director founder Abu Faisal Sergio Tapia
, Published By Jamal.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wazir, Khalil Al-
1935 births
1988 deaths
Assassinated Palestinian politicians
Fatah members
Fatah military commanders
Mandatory Palestine people
Members of the Palestinian Central Council
Palestinian Muslims
Palestinian people imprisoned by Syria
Palestinian refugees
People from Ramla
People killed in Mossad operations
People murdered in Tunisia