Ahmed Yassin: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:19, 15 April 2007

Latest revision as of 22:16, 16 August 2025

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{{Short description|Palestinian political and religious leader (1936–2004)}}

{{unreferenced||date=June 2006}}

{{other people}}

{{Infobox Biography

{{pp-extended|small=yes}}

| subject_name = Ahmed Yassin

{{Use Oxford spelling|date=April 2022}}

| image_name = Sheikahmedyassin300.jpg

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}

| image_size = 200px

{{Infobox officeholder

| image_caption = Photograph of Ahmed Yassin taken on [[March 19]], [[2004]].

| honorific_prefix = [[Sheikh]]

| date_of_birth = 1937

| name = Ahmed Yassin

| place_of_birth = [[Ashkelon|AlJura (Ashkelon)]]

| image = Ahmed Yassin.JPG

| date_of_death = [[March 22]], [[2004]]

| image_upright = 1.0

| place_of_death = [[Gaza City]]

| caption = Yassin in 2004

| native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|ar|أحمد ياسين|italic=no}}}}

| native_name_lang = ar

| office = [[Chairman of the Hamas Shura Council]]

| term_start = 10 December 1987

| term_end = 22 March 2004

| deputy = [[Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi]]

| predecessor = ''Position created''

| successor = Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi

| birth_name = Ahmed Ismail Hassan Yassin

| birth_date = {{Birth date text|June 1936}}

| birth_place = [[Al-Jura]], [[Mandatory Palestine]]{{sfn|Kabahā|2014|pp=323}} (now known as [[Ashkelon]], [[Israel]])

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2004|3|22|1936|6}}

| death_place = [[Gaza City]], [[Gaza Strip]]

| death_cause = [[Killing of Ahmed Yassin|Assassination]]

| nationality = [[Palestinians|Palestinian]]

| education = [[Al-Azhar University]], Cairo

| party = [[Hamas]]

| occupation = {{hlist|Politician|[[Imam]]}}

}}

{{Hamas history|image=|top=}}

[[Sheikh]] '''Ahmed Ismail Hassan Yassin''' ({{langx|ar|الشيخ أحمد إسماعيل حسن ياسين}}; June 1936 – 22 March 2004)<ref name="birthdate">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/yassin.html |title=Sheikh Ahmad Yassin |access-date=26 June 2024 |year=2004 |encyclopedia=[[Jewish Virtual Library]] |quote=Ahmed Yassin's Palestinian passport listed his date of birth as 1 January 1929, but Palestinian sources listed his birth year as 1937 (other Western media reported it as 1938). |archive-date=29 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220529001725/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/yassin.html |url-status=live }}</ref> was a Palestinian politician and [[imam]] who founded [[Hamas]], an [[Islamism|Islamist]] political and military organization. He also served as the first [[chairman of the Hamas Shura Council]] and de facto leader of Hamas since its inception from December 1987 until [[Killing of Ahmed Yassin|his assassination]] in March 2004.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XhZfgInbb7oC&q=Ahmed+Yassin+suicide+bombing+hamas |title=Suicide Bombings in Israel and Palestinian Terrorism |date=January 2006 |access-date=26 June 2024 |isbn=978-0-8368-6561-5 |last1=Uschan |first1=Michael V. |publisher=Gareth Stevens Publishing LLLP |archive-date=26 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426044056/https://books.google.com/books?id=XhZfgInbb7oC&q=Ahmed+Yassin+suicide+bombing+hamas#v=snippet&q=Ahmed%20Yassin%20suicide%20bombing%20hamas&f=false |url-status=live |page=16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lg364v_RmvkC&q=Ahmed+Yassin+suicide+bombing+hamas |title=Fighting suicide bombing: A Worldwide Campaign for Life |access-date=11 June 2010 |isbn=978-0-275-99336-8 |year=2007 |last1=Charny |first1=Israel W. |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] |___location=London, England |archive-date=26 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426043957/https://books.google.com/books?id=Lg364v_RmvkC&q=Ahmed+Yassin+suicide+bombing+hamas |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/pathtoparadisein0000berk/ |title=The path to paradise: the inner world of suicide bombers and their dispatchers |access-date=26 June 2024 |chapter=Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, Hamas founder: "The shaheed doesn't die, he lives with Allah" |isbn=978-0-275-99446-4 |year=2007 |last1=Berko |first1=Anat |publisher=Abc-Clio, LLC |archive-date=26 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426044109/https://books.google.com/books?id=wEZQqIJJOTYC&q=Ahmed+Yassin+suicide+bombing+hamas |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CtfSiaj9R5wC&q=Ahmed+Yassin+%22suicide+bombing%22+%22islamic+state%22+hamas |title=Terrornomics |date=26 April 2007 |access-date=11 June 2010 |isbn=978-0-7546-4995-3 |last1=Costigan |first1=Sean S. |last2=Gold |first2=David |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]] |___location=Farnham, Surrey, England |archive-date=26 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426043947/https://books.google.com/books?id=CtfSiaj9R5wC&q=Ahmed+Yassin+%22suicide+bombing%22+%22islamic+state%22+hamas |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uw1WGl0iHa0C&q=%22islamic+state%22+hamas&pg=PA21 |title=A Devil's Triangle: Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Rogue States |date=March 2007 |access-date=26 June 2024 |isbn=978-0-7425-4953-1 |last1=Brookes |first1=Peter |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |___location=Lanham, Maryland |archive-date=26 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426043948/https://books.google.com/books?id=Uw1WGl0iHa0C&q=%22islamic+state%22+hamas&pg=PA21#v=snippet&q=%22islamic%20state%22%20hamas&f=false |url-status=live |page=21}}</ref>

Yassin was born in [[Ashkelon]], in [[Mandatory Palestine]] in 1929 or 1936.<ref name="birthdate"/> His family [[1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight|fled or were expelled]] during the [[1948 Palestine War]] to [[Gaza City]]. Yassin, a [[Tetraplegia|quadriplegic]] who was nearly [[Visual impairment|blind]], had been reliant on a wheelchair due to a sporting accident at the age of 12.

'''Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Yassin''' ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: {{lang|ar|الشيخ أحمد ياسين}}) (circa 1937 &mdash; [[March 22]], [[2004]]) was the co-founder and leader of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement group [[Hamas]]. Because of its attacks on civilian targets, Hamas is classified as a [[terrorism|terrorist]] organization by the [[European Union]]<ref name="EUTerrorList">[http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2005/l_340/l_34020051223en00640066.pdf "Council Decision"] [[Council of the European Union]], December 21, 2005</ref>, the [[United States]]<ref name=SD1>[http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/45323.pdf "Chapter 6

Terrorist Groups"], U.S. State Dept., April 27, 2005.</ref>, [[Israel]], and several other countries.

After its founding in 1987, Yassin served as the [[List of leaders of Hamas|spiritual leader of Hamas]].<ref name=":0" /> The Israeli government held him responsible for the killing of several Israeli civilians.<ref name=":1" /> In 2004, [[Killing of Ahmed Yassin|he was killed]] when an Israeli helicopter gunship fired a missile at him as he was being wheeled from [[Fajr prayer]] in [[Gaza City]].<ref name=AlJazeerah>{{Cite web |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/archive/2004/03/200849163312822658.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070816132853/http://english.aljazeera.net/English/archive/archive?ArchiveId=2639|archive-date=16 August 2007 |title=The life and death of Shaikh Yasin|access-date=26 June 2024 |date=24 March 2004 |website=[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]] |url-status=live}}</ref> The attack, which also killed both of his bodyguards and nine bystanders, was internationally condemned.<ref name=AlJazeerah/> His [[Islamic funeral|funeral procession]] was attended by 200,000 people in Gaza.<ref name=csm>{{cite news |first=Ilene R. |last=Prusher |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0323/p01s04-wome.html |title=Killing of Yassin a Turning Point |newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |date=March 23, 2004 |access-date=26 June 2024 |archive-date=20 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120141110/https://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0323/p01s04-wome.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Yassin co-founded Hamas with [[Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi]] in 1987, originally calling it the Palestinian Wing of the [[Muslim Brotherhood]]. In addition to being nearly [[blindness|blind]], he was a [[paraplegic]] and had to use a [[wheelchair]] after a playground accident in his youth.[http://islam.about.com/b/a/073913.htm] He was assassinated by an Israeli [[helicopter gunship]].

==Early life and education==

Ahmed Yassin was born in [[al-Jura]], a small village near the towncity of [[Majdal]] (today [[Ashkelon]] City), in thenthe [[British Mandate ofMandatory Palestine]].{{sfn|Kabahā|2014|pp=323}} His date of birth is not known for certain: according to his Palestinian [[passport]], he was born on [[1 January]], [[1929]], but he claimed to have actually been born in [[1938]]the summer of 1936. His father, Abdullah Yassin, died when he was three years old. Afterward, he became known in his neighborhood as Ahmad Sa'ada after his mother Sa'ada al-Habeel. This was to differentiate him from the children of his father's other three wives. Together, Yassin had four brothers and two sisters. He and his entire family movedfled to [[Gaza City|Gaza]], settling in [[al-Shati Camp]] after his village was destroyed[[ethnically incleansed]]{{sfn|Pappe|2017|p=240}} 1948by the [[Israel Defense Forces]] during the [[1948 Arab-IsraeliArab–Israeli War]].<ref name = AlJazeerah/>{{sfn|Chehab|2007|p=15}}

Yassin came to Gaza as a [[Palestinian refugee|refugee]]. When he was 16, he sustained a severe spinal injury while wrestling his friend Abdullah al-Khatib. His neck was kept in plaster for 45 days. The damage to his spinal cord rendered him a [[quadriplegic]] for the rest of his life. Fearing a rift between his family and al-Khatib's, Yassin initially told his family that he sustained his injuries while playing [[leapfrog]] during a sports lesson with his school friends on the beach.{{sfn|Chehab|2007|p=16}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Levitt |first=Matthew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Min9VpiravsC&dq=Ahmed+Yassin+1936&pg=PA34 |title=Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad |date=2008-10-01 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-12901-4 |language=en}}</ref>

Yassin studied at [[Al-Azhar University]] in [[Cairo, Egypt]], following secondary school. [[Islamism|Islamist]] and [[Pan-Arab]] movements were strong influences at the University. Yassin joined the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] during his studies at Al-Azhar.

Although Yassin applied to and attended [[Al-Azhar University]] in [[Cairo]], he was unable to pursue his studies there due to his deteriorating health. He was forced to be educated at home where he read widely, particularly on philosophy and on religion, politics, sociology, and economics. His followers believe that his worldly knowledge made him "one of the best speakers in the Gaza Strip". During this time, he began delivering weekly sermons after [[Friday prayer]]s, drawing large crowds of people.{{sfn|Chehab|2007|p=16}}

==Views and Acts==

Yassin opposed peaceful conciliation with the [[Israel]]is, asserting that [[Palestine]] is an Islamic land "consecrated for future Muslim generations until [[Qiyamah|Judgement Day]]" and that "The so-called [[Peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict|peace path]] is not peace and it is not a substitute for [[jihad]] and resistance." [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel_and_the_palestinians/profiles/1695470.stm].

Moreover, in a rally he was reported saying that "Six million descendants of monkeys [i.e. Jews] now [[List of conspiracy theories#The Jewish world domination conspiracy theory|rule in all the nations of the world]], but their day, too, will come. Allah! Kill them all, do not leave even one." (reported in an [[ADL]] report on the Hamas[http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/orgs/american/adl/hamas/hamas-islamic-jihad], originally in [[The Forward]], 1993).

After years of unemployment, he got a post as an [[Arabic language]] teacher at an elementary school in [[Rimal]], Gaza. Headmaster Mohammad al-Shawa initially had reservations about Yassin, concerning the reception he would receive from the pupils due to his disability. However, according to al-Shawa, Yassin handled them well and his popularity grew, especially among the more scholarly children. His teaching methods reportedly provoked mixed reactions among parents because he encouraged his students to attend the mosque an additional two times a week.{{sfn|Chehab|2007|p=16}} Having a regular job gave Yassin financial stability, and he married one of his relatives Halima Yassin in 1960 at the age of 22.{{sfn|Chehab|2007|p=17}} The couple had eleven children.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9c80EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT212|publisher=Seven Stories Press|title=Hamas From Resistance to Regime|first=Paola|last=Caridi|date=2023|page=212|isbn=978-1-64421-197-7 }}</ref>

In [[1989]] Yassin was suspected by Israeli authorities to have authorized the killing of Palestinians collaborating with the [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF). Israel accused Yassin of ordering the execution of two captured Israeli soldiers, a crime for which he was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment by an Israeli military court.

==Involvement in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict==

==Release from prison and life after imprisonment==

[[File:Military trial of Ahmed Yassin, March 1990 I.jpg|thumb|300px|Yassin at [[Israeli military court]] in 1990]]

In 1997 Yassin was released from Israeli prison as part of an arrangement with [[Jordan]] following a failed assassination attempt of [[Khaled Mashal]] conducted by the Israeli [[Mossad]] in Jordan. Yassin was released by Israel in exchange for two Mossad agents who had been arrested by Jordanian authorities, on condition that he refrain from calling for suicide bombings against Israel.

Yassin was actively involved in setting up a Palestinian branch of the [[Muslim Brotherhood#Palestine|Muslim Brotherhood]].{{sfn|Jefferis|2016|p=50}} In 1973, the Islamic charity [[Mujama al-Islamiya]] was established in Gaza by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and the organization was recognized by Israel in 1979.<ref name="WSJ">{{cite news |last=Higgins |first=Andrew |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123275572295011847 |title=How Israel Helped to Spawn Hamas |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=24 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151207212228/http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB123275572295011847 |archive-date=7 December 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1984 he and others were jailed for secretly stockpiling weapons, but in 1985 he was released as part of the [[Jibril Agreement]].<ref name="zuhur">{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/man/eprint/zuhur.pdf|title=HAMAS and Israel: Conflicting Strategies of Group-Based Politics|access-date=26 June 2024|page=23|archive-date=21 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621222004/https://fas.org/man/eprint/zuhur.pdf|url-status=live |first=Sherifa |last=Zuhur |date=December 2008}}</ref> In 1987, during the [[First Intifada]], Yassin co-founded [[Hamas]] with [[Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi]], originally calling it the "paramilitary wing" of the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood, and becoming its spiritual leader.<ref name="newsbbccouk2">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel_and_the_palestinians/profiles/1695470.stm |title=Sheikh Yassin: Spiritual figurehead |access-date=26 June 2024 |date=22 March 2004 |work=[[BBC Online]] |archive-date=29 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729201318/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel_and_the_palestinians/profiles/1695470.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1989, Yassin was arrested by Israel and sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering killings of alleged Palestinian collaborators.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lansford |first1=Tom |last2=Muller |first2=Tom |title=Political Handbook of the World 2012 |date=2 April 2012 |publisher=SAGE |isbn=978-1-60871-995-2 |page=1639 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d33MfEFXvW8C&pg=PA1639 |language=en |access-date=10 February 2022 |archive-date=26 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426043958/https://books.google.com/books?id=d33MfEFXvW8C&pg=PA1639#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1997, Yassin was released from Israeli prison as part of an arrangement with [[Jordan]] following a failed assassination attempt of Hamas leader [[Khaled Mashal]] by the Israeli [[Mossad]] in Jordan. Yassin was released in exchange for two Mossad agents who had been arrested by Jordanian authorities, on the condition that he refrained from continuing to call for [[suicide bombing]]s against Israel.<ref name="newsbbccouk2" /><ref name="Plaw">{{cite book |last=Plaw |first=Avery |title=Targeting Terrorists: A License to Kill? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lrLGaUvJfykC&q=Yassin+released+condition+suicide |format=[[Google Book Search]] |access-date=6 April 2009 |year=2008 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=978-0-7546-4526-9 |page=76 |chapter=The Expansion of Israeli Targeting During the Second Intifada |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lrLGaUvJfykC&q=Yassin+released+condition+suicide&pg=PA76 |lccn=2008005474 |archive-date=26 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426043947/https://books.google.com/books?id=lrLGaUvJfykC&q=Yassin+released+condition+suicide#v=snippet&q=Yassin%20released%20condition%20suicide&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported about his poor health at the time: "Sheik Ahmad Yassin, spiritual leader of Hamas, back home in Gaza after his release by Israel, is so frail he drinks only with help."<ref name="OliverSteinberg2006">{{cite book |author1=Anne Marie Oliver |author2=Paul F. Steinberg |title=The Road to Martyrs' Square: A Journey into the World of the Suicide Bomber |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YRsvH8M8CesC&pg=PA48 |date=27 April 2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-802756-0 |pages=48– |access-date=23 July 2020 |archive-date=26 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426044456/https://books.google.com/books?id=YRsvH8M8CesC&pg=PA48#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref>

Following his release, Yassin resumed his leadership of Hamas. He immediately resumed his calls for attacks on Israel, using tactics including [[suicide bombing]]s, thus violating the condition of his release. His epigram is his most famous quote: "''We chose this road, and will end with martyrdom or victory''".

DuringFollowing thehis variousrelease, stagesYassin resumed his leadership of Hamas. He immediately repeated his calls for attacks on Israel, using tactics including suicide bombings, thus violating the "peacecondition processof his release.<ref name="Plaw" between/> IsraelHe also sought to maintain relations andwith the [[Palestinian Authority]] (PA), Yassinbelieving wasthat repeatedlya placedclash underbetween housethe arresttwo bygroups would be harmful to the PA.interests of Eachthe time[[Palestinian people]].<ref name="newsbbccouk2" /> Yassin was intermittently placed under [[house arrest]] by the Authority. Each time he was eventually released, often after extended [[Demonstration (people)|demonstrations]] by his supporters. Yassin criticized the outcome of the 2003 [[Road map for peace|Aqaba summit]]. His group initially declared a temporary truce with Israel. However, in July 2003, the truce unravelled after [[Davidka Square bus bombing|a Hamas suicide bombing]] of a Jerusalem bus killed 21 people the previous month. Israeli forces killed two Hamas members in retaliation.<ref name="newsbbccouk2" />

[[File:Ahmed Yassin and Ayatollah Khamenei.jpg|thumb|300px|Yassin meeting with Iranian Supreme Leader [[Ali Khamenei]] in Tehran (1998)]]

On 6 September 2003, an [[Israeli Air Force]] (IAF) [[F-16]] fired several missiles on a building in Gaza City in the [[Gaza Strip]]. Yassin was in the building at the time but survived.<ref name=AlJazeerah /> Israeli officials later confirmed that Yassin was the target of the attack. His injuries were treated at [[Al-Shifa Hospital|Shifa Hospital]] in Gaza City. Yassin responded to the media that "Days will prove that the [[Targeted killing by Israel|assassination policy]] will not finish the Hamas. Hamas leaders wish to be martyrs and are not scared of death. [[Jihad]] will continue and the resistance will continue until we have victory, or we will be martyrs."<ref name="wwwcnncom3">{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/09/06/mideast.violence/ |title=Hamas founder targeted in Gaza airstrike |access-date=26 June 2024 |publisher=CNN |date=6 September 2003 |archive-date=16 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016020508/http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/09/06/mideast.violence/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Yassin further promised that Hamas would teach Israel an "unforgettable lesson" as a result of the assassination attempt.<ref name="wwwabcnetau4">{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s940813.htm |title=Hamas leader promises 'unforgettable lesson' for Israel|work=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=7 September 2003|access-date=18 June 2007 |publisher=ABC|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040405160451/http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s940813.htm|archive-date=5 April 2004|url-status=dead}}</ref> Yassin made no attempt to guard himself from further attempts on his life or hide his ___location. Journalists sometimes visited his Gaza address and Yassin maintained a routine daily pattern of activity, including being wheeled every morning to a nearby mosque.

On [[June 13]], [[2003]], unnamed Israeli officials announced that Yassin "is not immune" to assassination under the Israeli policy of "targeted interception."{{Fact|date=February 2007}}

[[Reem Riyashi]]'s [[2004 Erez Crossing bombing|suicide bombing at the Erez crossing]] on 14 January 2004, which killed three soldiers and one civilian,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3395177.stm|title=BBC NEWS - Middle East - Gaza attack kills four Israelis|date=14 January 2004|access-date=14 December 2014}}</ref> was believed by the Israeli military to have been directly ordered by Yassin.<ref name="BBC011604">{{cite news |title=Sheikh Yassin denies attack role |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3402753.stm |work=BBC News |date=16 January 2004 |access-date=26 June 2024|archive-date=15 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015224053/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3402753.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Yassin suggested that the suicide bomber was fulfilling her "obligation" to make jihad,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001837056_mideast15.html |title=Palestinian mother is suicide bomber in attack at border |work=Seattle Times |date=15 January 2004 |access-date=11 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014235453/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001837056_mideast15.html |archive-date=14 October 2009 |first=Soraya |last=Sarhaddi Nelson}}</ref> and Israel's Deputy Defence Minister responded by publicly declaring that Yassin was "marked for death". Yassin denied any involvement in the attack.<ref name="BBC011604" />

Three months later, on [[September 6]], 2003, an [[Israeli Air Force]] (IAF) [[F-16]] dropped a quarter-ton bomb on a building in [[Gaza City]], the [[Gaza Strip]]. Yassin was in the building at the time and was lightly wounded by the bomb. Israeli officials later confirmed that Yassin was the target of the attack. His injuries were treated at [[Shifa Hospital]] in Gaza City.

==Views==

Following the assassination attempt, Yassin told reporters that "Days will prove that the assassination policy will not finish the Hamas. Hamas leaders wish to be martyrs and are not scared of death. Jihad will continue and the resistance will continue until we have victory, or we will be martyrs." [http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/09/06/mideast.violence/]

{{Palestinian leaders}}

===Involvement in attacks on Israel===

Yassin further promised that Hamas would teach Israel an "unforgettable lesson" as a result of the assassination attempt [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s940813.htm]. Yassin made no attempt to guard himself from further attempts on his life or hide his ___location. Journalists sometimes visited his Gaza address and Yassin maintained a routine daily pattern of activity, including being wheeled every morning to a nearby mosque.

{{See also|List of Hamas suicide attacks}}

Yassin was a founder and leader of Hamas, which is regarded as a terrorist organization by Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, Paraguay, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Boffey |first=Daniel |date=2017-07-26 |title=EU court upholds Hamas terror listing |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/26/eu-court-upholds-hamas-terror-listing |access-date=2023-12-17 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=26 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170726104628/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/26/eu-court-upholds-hamas-terror-listing |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="terr">* Also: Banned in [[Jordan]]—Karmi, Omar. [http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=22307 "What does the Hamas victory mean for nearby Jordan?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004175933/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=22307 |date=4 October 2009}}, ''The Daily Star'', 18 February 2006

* Australia lists the militant wing of Hamas, the [[Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades]], as a terrorist organization--[http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/agd/www/nationalsecurity.nsf/AllDocs/95FB057CA3DECF30CA256FAB001F7FBD?OpenDocument Listing of Terrorist Organisations] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204040731/http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/agd/www/nationalsecurity.nsf/AllDocs/95FB057CA3DECF30CA256FAB001F7FBD?OpenDocument |date=4 February 2014 }}, Australian Government Attorney-General's Department, 27 January 2006; retrieved 31 July 2006.

* United Kingdom lists the militant wing of Hamas, the [[Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades]], as a terrorist organization--[http://security.homeoffice.gov.uk/legislation/current-legislation/terrorism-act-2000/proscribed-terrorist-groups?version=1 " United Kingdom Home Security Office. Terrorism Act 2000. Proscribed terrorist groups]{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Israeli Prime Minister [[Ariel Sharon]] characterized Yassin as the "mastermind of Palestinian terror" and a "mass murderer".<ref name=csm /> The [[Israeli government]] repeatedly asserted that Yassin was responsible for a number of terrorist attacks, which targeted and killed civilians.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2004/3/Behind%20the%20Headlines-%20Ahmed%20Yassin%2022-Mar-2004 |title=Behind the Headlines: Ahmed Yassin 22-Mar-2004 |publisher=Mfa.gov.il |access-date=11 June 2010 |archive-date=20 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220105932/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2004/3/Behind%20the%20Headlines-%20Ahmed%20Yassin%2022-Mar-2004 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1997, Yassin proposed a halt of attacks on Israel, if Israel withdrew from the [[West Bank]] and Gaza.<ref>{{cite book|last=Filiu|year=2014|title=Gaza: A History|page=243|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref>

After a woman's suicide bombing at the [[Erez crossing]] on [[January 14]], [[2004]], in which [[Reem Raiyshi]] detonated herself, Yassin expressed his satisfaction with the execution of the attack. When asked about the execution of the attack by a woman, Yassin said, "Hamas views women as the reserve force".

In his statement Yassin declared that Hamas did target Israeli civilians, but only in direct retaliation for the death of Palestinian civilians. In his thinking this was a necessary tactic to "show the Israelis they could not get away without a price for killing our people."<ref>{{cite web |first=Faisal |last=Bodi |title=My Meeting with Sheikh Yasin |work=Al Jazeera |language=en |date=25 March 2004 |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2004/3/25/my-meeting-with-shaikh-yasin |access-date=26 June 2024}}</ref> In June 2003, after visiting al-Rantisi in hospital after a failed Israeli missile attack against him, Yassin told reporters: "Israel is targeting Palestinian civilians, so Israeli civilians should be targeted. From now on, all Israeli people are targets." "We got Israel's message. They should now expect the answer."<ref name = "mmr2003jun">{{Cite web |url=https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-196566/ |title=Chronological Review of Events Relating to the Question of Palestine |publisher=United Nations Division for Palestinian Rights |date=June 2003 |access-date=1 November 2023 |archive-date=15 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215094732/https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-196566/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Views on Jews ===

In an interview, likely recorded in the 1990s, Ahmed Yassin stated his view on Jews:

{{cquote|"We don't hate Jews and fight Jews because they are Jewish. They are a people of faith and we are a people of faith, and we love all people of faith. If my brother, from my own mother and father and my own faith takes my homes and expels me from it, I will fight him. I will fight my cousin if he takes my home and expels me from it. So when a Jew takes my home and expels me from it, I will fight him. I don't fight other countries because I want to be at peace with them, I love all people and wish peace for them, even the Jews. The Jews lived with us all of our lives and we never assaulted them, and they held high positions in government and ministries. But if they take my home and make me a refugee like 4 million Palestinians in exile? Who has more right to this land? The Russian immigrant who left this land 2000 years ago or the one who left 40 years ago? We don't hate the Jews, we only ask for them to give us our rights."<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.aljazeera.net/blogs/2017/12/18/%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%88%D9%88%D9%87%D9%85-%D8%A3%D8%B3%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B9 |script-title=ar:فلسطين.. ووهم أسلمة الصراع! |language=ar |date=18 December 2017 |work= Al Jazeera |access-date= 1 December 2023 |archive-date= 26 February 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240226023131/https://www.aljazeera.net/amp/blogs/2017/12/18/%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%88%D9%88%D9%87%D9%85-%D8%A3%D8%B3%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B9 |url-status= live }}</ref>}}

In a 1997 speech, Yassin said:<ref>{{cite news|title=Sheik Vows to Continue the Hamas Holy War Against Israel|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/23/world/sheik-vows-to-continue-the-hamas-holy-war-against-israel.html|work=[[New York Times]]|date=1997-10-23|access-date=1 January 2024|archive-date=1 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240101200525/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/23/world/sheik-vows-to-continue-the-hamas-holy-war-against-israel.html|url-status=live|first=Serge |last=Schmemann}}</ref>

{{cquote|I want to proclaim loudly to the world that we are not fighting Jews because they are Jews! We are fighting them because they assaulted us, they killed us, they took our land, our homes, our children, our women, they scattered us, we became scattered everywhere, a people without a homeland. We want our rights. We don't want more. We love peace, but they hate the peace, because people who take away the rights of others don't believe in peace. Why should we not fight? We have our right to defend ourselves.}}

=== Views on the peace process ===

Yassin's views on the [[Israeli–Palestinian peace process|peace process]] between the Palestinians and the [[Israel]]is were ambiguous. He supported armed resistance against Israel and asserted that [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] is an Islamic land "consecrated for future Muslim generations until [[Qiyamah|Judgment Day]]" and that no Arab leader had the right to give up any part of this territory.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gunning |first=Jeroen |title=Hamas in Politics |year=2009 |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=26}}</ref> Concerning that territorial conflict, Yassin's rhetoric did not distinguish between Israelis and Jews, at one point stating that "reconciliation with the Jews is a crime."<ref>{{cite interview |last=Yassin |first=Ahmed |subject-link=Ahmed Yassin |work=Filastin al-Muslimah |date=March 1995 |title=Interview}} as quoted in {{cite web |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/2885 |title=Hamas Takes "Revenge"? |access-date=26 June 2024 |last=Passner |first=Deborah |date=28 October 2003 |publisher=[[Arutz Sheva|Israel National News]] |archive-date=23 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023072305/https://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/2885 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, he regarded them as his religious cousins, stating that his conflict with them is purely over land he deemed stolen territory.<ref>{{cite video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKa1kRWX0AA | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121121192724/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKa1kRWX0AA| archive-date=2012-11-21 | url-status=dead|date=31 January 2009 |website=[[YouTube]] |title=Ahmad Yassin – Why Hamas fight |publisher=Muslim 333}}</ref>

Yassin's rhetoric was often scrutinized in the news media.<ref name=media>{{cite book |author1=Poole, Elizabeth |author2=Richardson, John E. |title=Muslims and the News Media |date=2006 |page=112}}</ref> On one occasion, he opined that Israel "must disappear from the map."<ref name=media /> Yassin's declaration that "We chose this road, and will end with martyrdom or victory" later became a repeated mantra among Palestinians.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.haaretz.com/news/security-forces-on-heightened-terror-alert-1.117564 |title=Security forces on heightened terror alert |first=Amos |last=Harel |author2=Arnon Regular |date=22 March 2004 |work=[[Haaretz]] |access-date=26 June 2024 |archive-date=12 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012120718/https://www.haaretz.com/news/security-forces-on-heightened-terror-alert-1.117564 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Yassin on several occasions proposed long-term ceasefire agreements, or truces, so called ''[[hudna]]s'', in exchange for Israeli concessions. All such offers were rejected by Israel. Following his release from Israeli prison in 1997, he proposed a ten-year truce in exchange for total Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, including [[East Jerusalem]], and Gaza and a stop to Israeli attacks on civilians. In 1999, in an interview with an Egyptian newspaper, he again offered a truce:<ref name = "pop">{{Cite web |url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/hamas-ceasefire-proposal-peace-or-pause |title=Hamas Ceasefire Proposal: Peace or Pause? |website=The Washington Institute |access-date=22 March 2021 |archive-date=16 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016003339/https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/hamas-ceasefire-proposal-peace-or-pause |url-status=live |date=16 March 2004}}</ref>

{{blockquote|We have to be realistic. We are talking about a homeland that was stolen a long time ago in 1948 and again in 1967. My generation today is telling the Israelis, 'Let's solve this problem now, on the basis of the [[1967 borders]]. Let's end this conflict by declaring a temporary ceasefire. Let's leave the bigger issue for future generations to decide.' The Palestinians will decide in the future about the nature of relations with Israel, but it must be a democratic decision.<ref name="pop"/>}}It was shortly after once such truce offer, in January 2004, that Yassin was assassinated.<ref>{{cite book |author=Kimmerling, Baruch |title=Clash of Identities: Explorations in Israeli and Palestinian Societies |publisher=Columbia University Press |date=2008 |page=299}}</ref>

==Assassination==

{{main|Killing of Ahmed Yassin}}

Ahmed Yassin was killed in an Israeli attack on [[March 22]] [[2004]]. While he was being wheeled out of an early morning prayer session, an Israeli helicopter gunship fired [[AGM-114 Hellfire|Hellfire missiles]] at Yassin and both of his bodyguards. They were killed instantly, along with eight other bystanders.[http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0403/S00292.htm] Allegedly, more than a dozen people were injured in the operation, including two of Yassin's sons. [[Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi]] replaced him as Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, and Rantissi himself was assassinated by Israel on [[April 17]] [[2004]].

Yassin was killed in an Israeli attack on 22 March 2004. While he was being wheeled out of an early morning prayer session in [[Gaza City]],<ref name=aljazspecial>{{cite news |title=Special Report: Shaikh Ahmed Yassin's Assassination |url=http://www.aljazeerah.info/Special%20Reports/Different%20special%20reports/Shaikh%20Ahmed%20Yassin's%20Assassination.htm |access-date=24 July 2012 |newspaper=Al Jazeera |date=22 March 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709054231/http://www.aljazeerah.info/Special%20Reports/Different%20special%20reports/Shaikh%20Ahmed%20Yassin%27s%20Assassination.htm |archive-date=9 July 2012}}</ref> an Israeli [[Boeing AH-64 Apache|AH-64 Apache]] helicopter [[Helicopter gunship|gunship]] fired [[AGM-114 Hellfire|Hellfire missiles]] at Yassin and both of his bodyguards. Before the attack, Israeli F-16 jets flew overhead to obscure the noise of the approaching helicopters.<ref name=aljazspecial/> Yassin always used the same direction every morning to go to the same mosque in the [[Sabra, Gaza|Sabra]] district that is {{convert|100|m|ft|abbr=on}} from his home.<ref name=aljazspecial/>

Yassin and his bodyguards were killed instantly, along with nine bystanders.<ref name=AlJazeerah/><ref name="wwwscoopconz5">{{Cite web |url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0403/S00292.htm |title=Assassination of Sheik Yasin Opened Pandora's box |date=23 March 2004 |work=Scoop |access-date=26 June 2024 |archive-date=10 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010221410/https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0403/S00292.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Another 12 people were injured in the operation, including two of Yassin's sons. [[Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi]], Yassin's deputy, became the Hamas leader after his assassination, but was also killed shortly thereafter.<ref name=aljazspecial/>

The anti-terrorist operation, part of an ongoing Israeli action against Hamas-sponsored rebel operations, followed Sheikh Yassin's taunt that Israel's response to the recent [[Ashdod]] terror operations was weak, and that Hamas would gain strength as a result.

===Reactions===

Israel said the targeted killing was punishment for dozens of [[suicide attack]]s by Hamas against [[Israel]]i civilians, and meant to thwart further attacks on Yassin's orders. Yassin's supporters and many countries condemned his assassination.

[[Kofi Annan]], [[UN Secretary General]], condemned the killing.<ref name="dominounorg6">{{Cite web |url=http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/eed216406b50bf6485256ce10072f637/cb710ee41effd1ef85256e6000501683!OpenDocument |title=Annan strongly condemns Israeli assassination of Hamas leader |access-date=30 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213151448/http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/eed216406b50bf6485256ce10072f637/cb710ee41effd1ef85256e6000501683%21OpenDocument |archive-date=13 February 2007 |url-status=dead |publisher=UNISPAL |date=22 March 2004}}</ref> The [[UN Commission on Human Rights]] passed a resolution condemning the killing<ref name="dominounorg7">{{Cite web |url=http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/eed216406b50bf6485256ce10072f637/8bae3e0b4870ce9185256e610075e22d!OpenDocument |title=COMMISSION HOLDS SPECIAL SITTING ON SITUATION IN OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY FOLLOWING THE KILLING OF SHEIKH YASSIN Adopts Resolution Which Condemns Continuing Grave Violations of Human Rights in Territory, Including Tragic Assassination of Sheikh Yassin |access-date=29 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040627111227/http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/eed216406b50bf6485256ce10072f637/8bae3e0b4870ce9185256e610075e22d%21OpenDocument |archive-date=27 June 2004 |url-status=dead |date=24 March 2004 |publisher=UNISPAL}}</ref> supported by votes from 31 countries including the [[People's Republic of China]], India, [[Indonesia]], Russia, and [[South Africa]], with 2 votes against and 18 abstentions. The [[Arab League]] council also expressed condemnation,<ref name="dominounorg8">{{Cite web |url=http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/eed216406b50bf6485256ce10072f637/029fa086fb91031885256e680074212a!OpenDocument |title=Urgent announcement by the Arab League Council on the Permanent Representatives Level |access-date=29 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040627110741/http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/eed216406b50bf6485256ce10072f637/029fa086fb91031885256e680074212a%21OpenDocument |archive-date=27 June 2004 |url-status=dead |publisher=UNISPAL |date=22 March 2004}}</ref> as did the [[African Union]].

A draft resolution condemning the extrajudicial execution of Yassin and six other Palestinians, as well as all terrorist attacks against civilians<ref name="UN_S2004240">{{cite web |url=https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/IP%202004%20240.pdf |title=Algeria and Libyan Arab Jamahiriya: draft resolution (S/2004/240) |publisher=United Nations Security Council |date=24 March 2004 |access-date=26 June 2024}}</ref> was brought before the [[United Nations Security Council]] and vetoed by the United States, with United Kingdom, Germany, and [[Romania]] abstaining.<ref name=renamed_from_4934_on_20240626222806>{{cite web |title=S/PV.4934|pages=2–3|date=25 March 2004|access-date=26 June 2024 |publisher=United Nations Security Council |url=https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n04/282/92/pdf/n0428292.pdf?token=gLAc3HPivbuHjbKfqg&fe=true}}</ref> The United States explained that the draft resolution should have condemned Hamas explicitly following its sponsored [[2004 Ashdod Port bombings|suicide bombings in Ashdod]] the week before.<ref name=renamed_from_4934_on_20240626222806/>

The Israel Defense Forces issued the following statement regarding the operation:

====Palestine====

:"This morning, in a security forces operation in the northern Gaza Strip, the IDF targeted a car carrying the head of the Hamas terror organization, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and his aides.

The [[Palestinian Authority]] declared three days of mourning and closed Palestinian schools. Hamas official [[Ismail Haniyeh]] suggested, "This is the moment Sheikh Yassin dreamed about". The Hamas leadership said Ariel Sharon had "opened the gates of hell". Hamas called for retaliation against Israel. About 200,000 people took to the streets of the Gaza Strip for Yassin's funeral as Israeli forces declared a national alert.<ref name=csm/>

:Yassin, responsible for numerous murderous terror attacks, resulting in the deaths of many civilians, both Israeli and foreign, was killed in the attack."

The assassination of Yassin also led to the fact that Hamas, for the first time, was named as the most popular movement in Palestine by the residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip two weeks after the assassination.<ref name=hafter>{{cite journal |last=Hroub |first=Khaled |title=Hamas after Shayk Yasin and Rantisi |journal=Journal of Palestine Studies |year=2004 |volume=XXXIII |issue=4 |pages=21–38 |url=http://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/files/k/kKEpHi/Hamas%20after%20sheikh%20yasin%20and%20rantisi.pdf |access-date=22 March 2015 |doi=10.1525/jps.2004.33.4.021 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130731141405/http://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/files/k/kKEpHi/Hamas%20after%20sheikh%20yasin%20and%20rantisi.pdf |archive-date=31 July 2013 | issn = 0377-919X }}</ref>

== International reaction ==

[[Abdel Aziz Rantisi]] was announced as the new head of Hamas. At a memorial service for Sheik Yassin, he declared that "The Israelis will not know security... We will fight them until the liberation of Palestine, the whole of Palestine."<ref name="autogenerated1">{{Cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E1DB1430F937A15750C0A9629C8B63 |work=The New York Times |title=After Sheik Is Slain, Hamas Picks Fiery Figure as Its Leader in Gaza |first=Greg |last=Myre |date=24 March 2004 |access-date=23 April 2010 |archive-date=26 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426044449/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/24/world/after-sheik-is-slain-hamas-picks-fiery-figure-as-its-leader-in-gaza.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Publicly addressing the "military wing" of Hamas, Rantisi suggested, "The door is open for you to strike all places, all the time and using all means."<ref name="autogenerated1"/> Rantisi was himself killed by Israel on 17 April 2004 in an assassination almost identical to that of Yassin.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Derek |title=Leader of Hamas for just 25 days, he fought for a free Palestine |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/apr/19/guardianobituaries.israel |website=The Guardian |date=19 April 2004 |publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited |access-date=3 June 2015 |archive-date=15 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015051354/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/apr/19/guardianobituaries.israel |url-status=live }}</ref> He was killed by three rockets fired from a [[gunship]] by the Israeli military.<ref>{{cite web |title=Qassam Brigades marks 11th anniversary of Sheikh Yassin's assassination |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/17682-qassam-brigades-marks-11th-anniversary-of-sheikh-yassins-assassination |website=Middle East Monitor |access-date=3 June 2015 |archive-date=20 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150720065514/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/17682-qassam-brigades-marks-11th-anniversary-of-sheikh-yassins-assassination |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Hamas leader killed in Israeli airstrike |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/04/17/mideast.violence/ |website=CNN International |publisher=Cable News Network LP, LLLP |access-date=26 June 2024 |date=18 April 2004 |archive-date=1 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201043617/http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/04/17/mideast.violence/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The killing provoked widespread condemnation from the international community. [[Kofi Annan]], UN General secretary, strongly condemned the killing and also called on Israel to halt its policy of assassination [http://domino.un.org/unispal.NSF/eed216406b50bf6485256ce10072f637/cb710ee41effd1ef85256e6000501683!OpenDocument]. The UN Commission on Human Rights passed a resolution condemning the killing [http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/eed216406b50bf6485256ce10072f637/8bae3e0b4870ce9185256e610075e22d!OpenDocument] supported by votes from 31 countries including the [[People's Republic of China]], [[India]], [[Indonesia]], [[Russia]], and [[South Africa]] with 2 votes against and 18 abstentions. The [[Arab League]] council also expressed condemnation [http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/eed216406b50bf6485256ce10072f637/029fa086fb91031885256e680074212a!OpenDocument], as did the [[African Union]] [http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/99818751a6a4c9c6852560690077ef61/df19a9217edaf7ac85256e7b0066a9cb!OpenDocument].

On 31 August 2004, at least 15 Israeli people were killed and 80 injured in [[Beersheba bus bombings|a suicide attack]] against two Israeli buses in [[Beersheba]]. Hamas stated the attack was a revenge for the assassination of Rantisi and Yassin.<ref>{{cite book |title=The new Iranian leadership: Ahmadinejad, terrorism, nuclear ambition, and the Middle East |first1=Yonah |last1=Alexander |first2=Milton M. |last2=Hoenig |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |date=2008 |isbn=978-0-275-99639-0}}</ref> Following the bombing, an estimated 20,000 Hamas supporters in Gaza took to Gaza's streets, celebrating the successful attack.<ref name="reuters">{{cite web |url=https://www.haaretz.com/news/palestinians-celebrate-deadly-israeli-bus-bombings-1.133300 |title=Palestinians celebrate deadly Israeli bus bombings |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012120738/https://www.haaretz.com/news/palestinians-celebrate-deadly-israeli-bus-bombings-1.133300 |archive-date=12 October 2017 |work=Haaretz |access-date=26 June 2024 |url-status=live |publisher=Retuers |date=1 September 2004}}</ref>

[[Jack Straw (politician)|Jack Straw]], the British Foreign Secretary, said: "All of us understand Israel's need to protect itself - and it is fully entitled to do that - against the terrorism which affects it, within international law. But it is not entitled to go in for this kind of unlawful killing and we condemn it. It is unacceptable, it is unjustified and it is very unlikely to achieve its objectives."

====Israel====

The White House equivocally condemned the action. [[Scott McClellan]], the [[White House Press Secretary]], said, "We are deeply troubled by this morning's incident," but he added, "Israel had the right to defend itself" and stressed that Yassin had been "personally involved in terrorism".

The Israeli government said the targeted killing was in response to dozens of [[suicide attack]]s by Hamas against Israeli civilians.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/03/22/yassin/index.html |title=Thousands mourn Hamas founder |publisher=CNN |date=6 May 2004 |access-date=26 June 2024 |archive-date=15 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015224056/http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/03/22/yassin/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The Israeli [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] defended the assassination of Yassin:

A State Department spokesman said: "This does not help efforts to resume progress towards peace."

{{blockquote|Yassin was the dominant authority of the Hamas leadership, which was directly involved in planning, orchestrating and launching terror attacks carried out by the organization. In this capacity, Yassin personally gave his approval for the launching of [[Qassam rockets]] against Israeli cities, as well as for the numerous Hamas terrorist bombings and suicide operations. In his public appearances and interviews, Yassin called repeatedly for a continuation of the 'armed struggle' against Israel, and for an intensification of the terrorist campaign against its citizens. The successful operation against Yassin constitutes a significant blow to a central pillar of the Hamas terrorist organization, and a major setback to its terrorist infrastructure.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Templates/ArticleDynamicFix.aspx?NRMODE=Published&NRORIGINALURL=%2fMFA%2fTerrorism-%2bObstacle%2bto%2bPeace%2fTerrorism%2band%2bIslamic%2bFundamentalism-%2fSheikh%2bYassin%2bkilled%2bin%2bIDF%2battack%2b22-Mar-2004%2ehtm&NRNODEGUID=%7b2B09115D-4DE6-47A2-96E4-ECCB2FCC8F03%7d&NRCACHEHINT=Guest |title=IDF strike kills Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |date=22 March 2004 |access-date=11 June 2010 |archive-date=23 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060223230649/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Templates/ArticleDynamicFix.aspx?NRMODE=Published&NRORIGINALURL=%2fMFA%2fTerrorism-%2bObstacle%2bto%2bPeace%2fTerrorism%2band%2bIslamic%2bFundamentalism-%2fSheikh%2bYassin%2bkilled%2bin%2bIDF%2battack%2b22-Mar-2004%2ehtm&NRNODEGUID=%7b2B09115D-4DE6-47A2-96E4-ECCB2FCC8F03%7d&NRCACHEHINT=Guestest |url-status=dead}}</ref>}}

US ambassador to Iraq [[John Negroponte]] stated that the USA was "deeply troubled", and characterized Yassin as "the leader of a terrorist organization [...] who preached hatred, and glorified suicide bombings of buses, restaurants, and cafes."

[[Shaul Mofaz]], the Israeli Defense Minister, branded Yassin "the Palestinian [[Osama bin Laden|binBin Laden]]" and said, "If we have to balance how many more terrorists Yassin would have sent, how many terroristterror attacks he would have approved -, if we weigh this on the scales, we acted rightly.".<ref name=csm/>

[[Avraham Poraz]], Israel's Interior Minister and member of the centrist [[Shinui]] Partyparty, said he believed the assassination of Yassin would "fosterwas furthera hatebad andidea morebecause attacksI am afraid of a revenge coming from the Palestinian side, from the Hamas side."<ref name=bbcn>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3557451.stm |title=Israel defiant over Yassin killing |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230618143452/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3557451.stm |archive-date=18 June 2023 |date=22 March 2004 |work=BBC |url-status=live |access-date=26 June 2024}}</ref> [[Shimon Peres]], then leader of the [[Israeli Labor Party|Labour]] opposition, said,was "Icritical doof notthe believeassassination, suggesting that weit can"could eliminatelead terrorismto byan assassinatingescalation leaders.of Itterror".<ref was a misguided decision."name=bbcn/>

====Middle East====

An informal survey by the BBC suggested support for the attack from Israelis [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3557451.stm].

[[King Abdullah II of Jordan]] described the assassination as a "crime";<ref name = AlJazeerah/> Lebanon's president [[Émile Lahoud]] vehemently denounced the Israeli act as "...a crime [which] will not succeed in liquidating the Palestinian cause";<ref name=AlJazeerah/> Emir of Kuwait [[Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah]] said: "Violence will increase now because violence always breeds violence";<ref name=AlJazeerah/> the head of the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] in Egypt, [[Mohammed Mahdi Akef|Mohammed Akef]], described Yassin as a "martyr" and his assassination a "cowardly operation".<ref name=AlJazeerah/> Iran called the assassination a "criminal act" and a threat to regional security.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-03-24 |title=The life and death of Shaikh Yasin |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2004/3/24/the-life-and-death-of-shaikh-yasin |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-03-23 |title=IN SECURITY COUNCIL DEBATE, MOST SPEAKERS CONDEMN ISRAEL'S ASSASSINATION OF HAMAS LEADER |url=https://press.un.org/en/2004/sc8034.doc.htm |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=United Nations Meetings Coverage and Press Releases}}</ref>

====Western world====

The [[Palestinian Authority]] declared three days of mourning and closed Palestinian schools. Flags at President [[Yasser Arafat]]'s compound in [[Ramallah]] were lowered as he recited a Muslim prayer for Yassin and said, "May you join the martyrs and the prophets. To heaven, you martyr."

[[Jack Straw]], then British Foreign Secretary, said: "All of us understand Israel's need to protect itself – and it is fully entitled to do that – against the terrorism which affects it, within international law. But it is not entitled to go in for this kind of unlawful killing and we condemn it. It is unacceptable, it is unjustified and it is very unlikely to achieve its objectives."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3556753.stm |title=Blair condemns Hamas chief death |work=BBC News |date=22 March 2004 |access-date=26 June 2024 |archive-date=10 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710142502/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3556753.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The European Union's foreign policy head [[Javier Solana]] expressed concern that it might impede the peace process.<ref name=AlJazeerah/>

In response to a question about the killing, U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] responded:{{blockquote|As far as the [[Middle East]], it's a troubled region, and the attacks were troubling. There needs to be a focused, concerted effort by all parties to fight terror. Any country has a right to defend itself from terror. Israel has the right to defend herself from terror. And as she does so, I hope she keeps consequences in mind as to how to make sure we stay on the path to peace.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/03/20040323-5.html |title=President Discusses Economy and Terrorism After Cabinet Meeting |website=Georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov |date=23 March 2004 |access-date=26 June 2024 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223082425/https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/03/20040323-5.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

Hamas official [[Ismail Haniyeh]] said, "This is the moment Sheikh Yassin dreamed about". The Hamas leadership said [[Ariel Sharon]] had "opened the gates of hell." Hamas called for retaliation against Israel. About 200,000 people took to the streets of the Gaza Strip for Yassin's funeral as Israeli forces declared a national alert.

[[United States Representative to the United Nations]] [[John Negroponte]] stated that the United States was "deeply troubled by this action by the Government of Israel", while asserting that the U.S. would not support any [[United Nations Security Council|U.N. Security Council]] statement condemning Israel's assassination of Yassin that did not include a condemnation of "Hamas terrorist attacks".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.usembassy.it/viewer/article.asp?article=/file2004_03/alia/a4032408.htm |website=U.S. Mission to Italy |title=U.N. Must Condemn Hamas Terrorism as Well as Israeli Assassination |date=23 March 2004 |access-date=11 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614141919/http://www.usembassy.it/viewer/article.asp?article=%2Ffile2004_03%2Falia%2Fa4032408.htm |archive-date=14 June 2011}}</ref> According to his statement to the UN Security Council,

The [[UN Security Council]] failed to pass a resolution condemning Yassin's assassination as the United States vetoed it. Britain, Germany, and Romania abstained. The United States stated that it vetoed the resolution because it did not include an explicit condemnation of [[Hamas]] [[terrorism]].

{{cquote|The killing of Sheikh Yassin has escalated tensions in Gaza and the [[greater Middle East]], and sets back our effort to resume progress towards peace. However, events must be considered in their context and as we consider the killing of Sheikh Yassin, we must keep in mind the facts. Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was the leader of a terrorist organization, one which has proudly taken credit for indiscriminate attacks against civilians, including most recently an attack last week in the Port of [[Ashdod]], which left 10 Israelis dead. He preached hatred, and glorified suicide bombings of buses, restaurants, and cafes. Yassin was opposed to the existence of the State of Israel, and actively sought to undermine a [[two-state solution]] in the Middle East.}}

== Notes and references ==

<div class="references-small">

== Notes ==

<references />

{{Notelist}}

</div>

==See also==

{{Portal|Palestine|Islam}}

* [[Muslim Brotherhood]]

==References==

=== Citations ===

{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===

{{refbegin|2}}

*{{cite book |first=Zaki |last=Chehab |title=Inside Hamas: The Untold Story of Militants, Martyrs and Spies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rWEg6Tfai_oC |year=2007 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=978-1-84511-389-6 |access-date=28 October 2020 |archive-date=26 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426044637/https://books.google.com/books?id=rWEg6Tfai_oC |url-status=live }}

* {{cite book |first=Jennifer |last=Jefferis |title=Hamas: Terrorism, Governance, and Its Future in Middle East Politics: Terrorism, Governance, and Its Future in Middle East Politics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rzRpCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA50 |date=12 February 2016 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-3903-0 |pages=50– |access-date=28 October 2020 |archive-date=26 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426044640/https://books.google.com/books?id=rzRpCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA50 |url-status=live }}

* {{cite book |last=Kabahā |first=Muṣṭafá |title=The Palestinian People: Seeking Sovereignty and State |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QyTCNAEACAAJ |year=2014 |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers, Incorporated |isbn=978-1-58826-882-2 |access-date=28 October 2020 |archive-date=19 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219083406/https://books.google.com/books?id=QyTCNAEACAAJ |url-status=live }}

* {{cite book |first=Ilan |last=Pappe |title=The Biggest Prison on Earth: A History of the Occupied Territories |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0hm9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT281 |date=22 June 2017 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |isbn=978-1-78074-433-9 |pages=281– |access-date=28 October 2020 |archive-date=26 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426044451/https://books.google.com/books?id=0hm9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT281#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}

{{refend}}

==External links==

{{commons category}}

* Reports on death

** [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Terrorism+and+Islamic+Fundamentalism-/Sheikh+Yassin+killed+in+IDF+attack+22-Mar-2004.htm "IDF strike kills Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin"] (Israeli MFA)

** {{Cite web |url=http://jerusalemites.org/news/english/mar2004/22.htm |title=Sharon was after the Yassin's murder |access-date=11 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041227095408/http://jerusalemites.org/news/english/mar2004/22.htm |archive-date=27 December 2004 |url-status=dead}}

** [http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=59063 "Hamas' spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin killed in Israeli gunships airstike"]

** [http://www.jerusalemites.org/news/english/mar2004/22.htm "Sharon was after the Yassin's murder"]

**[http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0403/S00292.htm "Assassination of Sheik Yasin Opened Pandora's box"]

** [https://www.theguardian.com/flash/0,5860,1175454,00.html Interactive Guide: Sheikh Yassin assassination] – ''[[The Guardian]]''

** [http://www.ict.org.il/spotlight/det.cfm?id=971 "Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin killed in Israeli airstrike"] ([[Institute for Counter-Terrorism]])

** [http://www.guardian.co.uk/flash/0,5860,1175454,00.html Interactive Guide: Sheikh Yassin assassination] - [http://www.guardian.co.uk The Guardian]

* Profiles of Yassin

** [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1695470.stm BBC Obituaryobituary]

** [https://www.theguardian.com/israel/Story/0,2763,1175854,00.html ''Guardian'' obituary]

** [http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7995E32C-9686-40DA-97AD-2E0D5EABF6D1.htm Ahmed Yassin's Life and Death, from Al-Jazeera]

** [http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1175854,00.html?79%3A+International+news+-+guardian Guardian Obituary]

** [http://www.ict.org.il/documents/documentdet.cfm?docid=63 Ahmed Yassin, leader of Hamas terrorist organization] (Institute for Counter-Terrorism)

* UN Response

** [httphttps://www.ihtnytimes.com/articles2004/51211203/26/world/us-vetoes-un-resolution-condemning-israel-for-hamas-killing.html U.S. vetoesVetoes aU.N. UNResolution resolution condemningCondemning Israel for killingHamas Killing]

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