Fathi Hamad

Fathi Ahmad Hamad
فتحي أحمد حماد
Hamad (second from right, in white shirt) participates in Gaza police exercise in 2011
Minister of Interior of the Gaza Strip
In office
April 2009 – 2 June 2014
Prime MinisterIsmail Haniyeh
Preceded bySaid Seyam
Succeeded byRami Hamdallah
Member of Hamas Political Bureau
Incumbent
Assumed office
2012
Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council
Incumbent
Assumed office
18 February 2006
Personal details
Born (1961-01-03) 3 January 1961
Beit Lahia, Egyptian-administered Gaza Strip, Palestine
PartyHamas
Children24[1]
EducationQalandia Institute (1982)
Al-Quds Open University (2006)
Islamic University of Gaza (2012)
Omdurman University (2020)

Fathi Ahmad Hamad (Arabic: فتحي أحمد حماد, also spelled Fathi Hammad; born 3 January 1961) is a Palestinian politician and member of the Hamas political bureau. He was Interior Minister in the Hamas-administered Gaza Strip from 2009 to 2014.

Biography

In 1983, Hammad joined the Muslim Brotherhood. He is the founder and Vice President of Dar Al Quran.[2]

From 1988 to 1994, Hamad was in Israeli prison. He was also arrested three times by the Palestinian Authority and spent 2 years in Palestinian jails.[3]

Hamad became a Hamas-affiliated member of the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006, representing his home town of Beit Lahia in North Gaza Governorate. He also leads the Hamas Public Affairs Department and the chairman of al-Ribat Communications and Artistic Productions[4] - a Hamas-run company which produces Hamas's radio station, Al-Aqsa Voice Radio, its television station, Al-Aqsa TV and its bi-weekly newspaper, The Message.[5][6] Under his direction, the station broadcast children's show Tomorrow's Pioneers, which received heavy criticism for its antisemitic and Islamist content. Hamad defended the contents of the show, stating "it does not violate any moral or professional standard."[7]

In April 2009, Hamad was appointed Interior Minister in the Hamas-administered Gaza Strip, replacing Said Seyam who had been assassinated by Israel during the 2008–2009 Gaza War.[5][8] He ceased being Interior Minister in June 2014 on the formation of the Fatah–Hamas unity government. [9] According to the United States, Hamad used his position as interior minister to "coordinate terrorist cells."[10]

In November 2009, Waad, a Gaza charity headed by Hamad, offered a $1.4 million bounty to any Arab citizen of Israel who abducts an Israeli soldier. While Palestinian militant groups have frequently called on Arab-Israelis to capture soldiers, this marked the first time money had been offered.[11]

In September 2016, the U.S. Department of State named Hamad a Specially Designated Terrorist, outlawing U.S. citizens and companies from doing business with him and freezing his assets in areas under U.S. jurisdiction.[12][10] The designation named Hamad as the founder and director of Hamad's Al-Aqsa TV, which the U.S. said aired "programs designed to recruit children to become Hamas armed fighters and suicide bombers." In response, Hamad told the Washington Post that he "was proud that I managed to anger America."[3]

He provides funding and military instruction to the West Bank branch of Hamas, founded by prisoners released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange. According to Palestinian officials, Hamad was behind a cell planning suicide bombings and other attacks in Abu Dis.[10]

Hamad arranged for Yahya Sinwar's widow to be remarried in Turkey, and was believed to be smuggling Hamas members and their families out of Gaza during the 2023 Gaza War, arranging for fake passports, fictitious medical records, and assistance from the embassies of sympathetic countries.[13]

In September 2025, Hamad narrowly escaped an Israeli assassination attempt that killed 5 other Hamas members in Doha, Qatar.[14]

Personal life

According to Hamas' website, Hamad has 24 children. Some sources claim that Yaqeen Khader Fathi Hamad, who was killed in 2025, was his daughter.

Views

Hamad is viewed in Gaza as a powerful, but extreme, loose cannon, who operates independently of and kept at arm's length by Hamas. He is well known as one of the most radical figures in Hamas.[3][10] Hamad was a central figure opposing reconciliation with the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority.

A speech made by Hamad, broadcast on Al-Aqsa TV in February 2008, has been used as evidence by Israel and others that Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups make use of human shields.[15][16][17][18] In an interview which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on 14 December 2010 (as translated by MEMRI), Hamad stated that "the Jews have become abhorred and loathed outcasts because they live off corruption and the plundering of the peoples." [19][20]

In 2011, Hamad predicted Israel's destruction in 12 years, saying "we are working toward that goal day and night."[21]

In a speech broadcast on Egyptian Al-Helma TV on 23 March 2012, Hamad condemned Egypt over the fuel shortage in the Gaza Strip, and stated, "Half of the Palestinians are Egyptians and the other half are Saudis."[22]

In late July 2018, Hamad called on Muslims to kill Zionist Jews in a funeral speech at the Great Omari Mosque in Gaza City: "O Muslims, wherever you find a Zionist Jew, you must kill him because that is an expression of your solidarity with the al-Aqsa Mosque and an expression of your solidarity with your Jerusalem, your Palestine and your people,"[23]

In March 2018, Hamad, as a senior Hamas official, was reported to oppose reconciliation with Fatah, and urged a resumption of war against Israel. He was implicated in the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah.[24][25]

Controversies

In July 2019, Hamad urged members of the Palestinian diaspora to kill Jews in Palestine and also across the globe. His comments were characterized as incitement to genocide by Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America[26] and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.[27] His rhetoric was condemned by other Palestinians.[28][29] The deliberate killing of civilians is said by mainstream Islamic scholars to be prohibited in Islamic law.[30]

References

  1. ^ "حركة المقاومة الإسلامية - حماس" [Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas]. hamas.ps. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017.
  2. ^ "Fathi Hammad - Who is Fathi Ahmad Hammad?". webgaza.net.
  3. ^ a b c Balousha, Hazem (18 September 2016). "Palestinian leader says he is proud to be branded a 'global terrorist' by U.S." Archived from the original on 7 December 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Hamas Expands Reach Through Media". Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  5. ^ a b Hamas officially announces Fathi Hamad new Interior Minister. Palestinian Press, 27 April 2009
  6. ^ Johnson, Alan (15 May 2008). "Hamas and antisemitism". The Guardian. London.
  7. ^ al-Mughrabi, Nidal (9 August 2007). "Hamas TV airs anti-Israel kids show despite protest". Reuters.
  8. ^ New Hamas cabinet approved by lawmakers. Ma'an, 27 August 2012
  9. ^ Algemeiner, The. "In Farewell Speech, Hamas Interior Minister Calls on Fatah to Join Jihad (VIDEO)". Algemeiner.com. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  10. ^ a b c d "US designates senior Hamas official a 'global terrorist'". The Times of Israel. Agence France-Presse.
  11. ^ "Hamas-linked group offers cash reward for capture of IDF soldiers". Haaretz. Associated Press. 20 November 2009.
  12. ^ "Blacklisted Hamas official: US shows 'total bias' for Israel". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909.
  13. ^ "The Week" News Desk. "Slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's wife fled Gaza with fake passport, remarried in Turkey: Report". The Week. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  14. ^ Usaid, Siddiqui (17 September 2025). "Leading Hamas Official Makes First Comments Since Israeli Attack in Doha". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  15. ^ "Video: Hamas uses civilians as a means to achieving military goals". Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 11 January 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  16. ^ Landes, Richard (December 2009). "Goldstone's Gaza Report: Part One: A Failure of Intelligence". Middle East Review of International Affairs. 13 (4). Global Research in International Affairs Center (GLORIA). Archived from the original on 13 April 2010.
  17. ^ Marcus, Itamar; Crook, Barbara; Jacques Zilberdik, Nan (16 September 2009). "Eye-witnesses: Hamas used human shields in Gaza war". Palestinian Media Watch. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  18. ^ Dershowitz, Alan M. (16 September 2009). "UN Investigation of Israel Discredits Itself and Undercuts Human Rights". Hudson New York. Hudson Institute. Retrieved 28 April 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  19. ^ Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hammad: The Americans and the Jews Are Abhorred Worldwide; The Americans Are Led by the Jews, "Outcasts Who Live Off Corruption and Plundering", MEMRITV, 14 December 2010, Clip No. 2734.
  20. ^ Spoerl, J. S. (2020). "Parallels between Nazi and Islamist Anti-Semitism". Jewish Political Studies Review. 31 (1–2): 210–244. Retrieved 18 January 2026. The suggestion that leaders such as Fathi Hammad have abandoned anti-Semitism is hardly credible
  21. ^ "Fathi Hamad, minister of the interior of the de-facto Hamas administration and responsible for enforcing the lull in the Gaza Strip, also handles terrorist squads and promotes terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria". Meir Amit Terrorism Information Center. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2026. On August 13, 2011, interviewed by an Iranian news agency, Fathi Hamad said that in 12 years "Israel would collapse and be wiped off the map." He said the Arabs and Muslims were becoming more numerous and stronger while there were fewer and fewer Jews. He said the State of Israel would be destroyed and "we are working toward that goal day and night."
  22. ^ Hamas Minister of the Interior and of National Security Fathi Hammad Slams Egypt over Fuel Shortage in Gaza Strip, and Says: "Half of the Palestinians Are Egyptians and the Other Half Are Saudis," Memritv Clip 3389, http://www.memri.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/3389.htm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAfENxzv2mc
  23. ^ "Hamas official tells Gazans: O Muslims, wherever you find a Zionist Jew, you must kill him". The Times of Israel. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  24. ^ Toameh, Khaled Abu. "Abbas condemns 'murderous terror attack' on PA convoy". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909.
  25. ^ Issacharoff, Avi. "Something is rotten in the terrorist kingdom of Hamas". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909.
  26. ^ "Guardian, Independent and Telegraph ignore Hamas official's call for genocide > CAMERA UK". CAMERA UK. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  27. ^ "'A Fatwa for Genocide' – Wiesenthal center slams Hamas charter". The Jerusalem Post. 14 July 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2020. The Simon Wiesenthal Center slammed Hamas in a press release on Sunday, pointing out that the terrorist group's charter contains "a Fatwa for genocide" and the statement by senior Hamas official Fathi Hammad, who called on Palestinians living around the world to "go out and slaughter and kill Jews."
  28. ^ Rasgon, Adam. "Hamas official walks back call to Palestinian Diaspora to kill 'Jews everywhere'". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 16 July 2019. But our brothers [in the diaspora] are still preparing. They are trying to prepare. They are warming up. A long time has passed with them warming up. All of you 7 million Palestinians abroad, enough of the warming up. You have Jews everywhere and we must attack every Jew on the globe by way of slaughter and killing, if God permits. Enough of the warming up
  29. ^ "Hamas official calls on Palestinians abroad to kill Jews". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  30. ^ Aly, Heba (24 April 2014). "The New Humanitarian | Islamic law and the rules of war". www.thenewhumanitarian.org. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
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