Tawfik Jaber (
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; Walte ...
: توفيق جابر; died 27 December 2008) was the chief of police in
Gaza, and was one of the most prominent figures among those killed on the first day of the
2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict.
Jaber was originally affiliated with the Palestinian nationalist
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 ...
political party,
Fatah
Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and s ...
, switching his loyalty to the
Hamas
Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni- Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Br ...
government in the
Gaza Strip in 2007.
Bill Dienst, an American doctor who met Jaber at a Gaza border crossing in the summer of 2008, when Dienst and other activists were denied passage into the strip, said that Jaber told him that he had not seen his wife for years: "He couldn't get out and she couldn't get in. It's a common story there."
Jaber was among 40 people killed at a police headquarters in
Gaza City where Hamas was hosting a graduation ceremony for new recruits. Of his death, Dienst said: "These are traffic cops who provide law and order. ... Those people were not shooting rockets. They were trying to build a civil society."
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References
External links
BBC report
2008 deaths
Palestinian police officers
Hamas members
Gaza War (2008–2009)
Year of birth missing
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