Nizar Rayan
Rayan at a press conference 23 September 2005 in Gaza. (AFP)
Leader in Hamas
In office
2004 – 1 January 2009
Preceded bySheikh Ahmed Yassin
Personal details
Born(1959-03-06)6 March 1959
Jabalia, Gaza Strip
Died1 January 2009(2009-01-01) (aged 49)
Jabalia, Gaza Strip
Cause of deathAirstrike
NationalityPalestinian
Political partyHamas
Spouse4
Children12
Alma materImam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University, Omdurman Islamic University, University of Jordan
OccupationProfessor of Islamic law
Known forHamas leadership

Nizar Rayan (Arabic: نزار ريان, Nɩzár Rɑȋán, also transliterated Rayyan; 6 March 1959 – 1 January 2009) was a high-ranking Hamas leader who served as a liaison between the Palestinian organization's political leadership and its military wing. Also a professor of Islamic law, he became a top Islamic cleric within Hamas after the death of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in 2004. Rayan was a strong promoter between 1994 and 2004 of suicide bombings on Israel, and his son killed himself on one such mission. Rayan and most of his family were killed in an Israeli airstrike during the Gaza War.

Personal life

Rayan was born in Jabalia, Gaza Strip on 6 March 1959.[1][2] In 1982, he received a BSc degree in Theology and Religious studies from Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[3] While there he was influenced by Wahhabism and Salafism.[3] He then attended the University of Jordan in Amman and in 1990 received a masters MSc degree with honors.[3] In 1994, Rayan completed his PhD in Islamic studies at the Omdurman Islamic University in Omdurman, Sudan.[3][4][5] His dissertation has the title of Future of Islam: Objective Analysis.[3]

After his studies, Rayan returned to Gaza and was employed as an imam at several mosques,[5] Jabalia's Imad Aqil Mosque (also known as the "Mosque of martyrs") among them.[6][7][8] He later became a professor of Islamic law at the Islamic University of Gaza.[9][10][11] Rayan was a leading authority on Hadith (sayings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad), and he amassed a 5,000-book library in his home.[5] An Israeli intelligence source described Rayan as a strong opponent of Shia Islam, who opposed allowing any form of Shiia Islam to establish a foothold in Gaza and the West Bank.[3]

Eventually, according to The Jerusalem Post, Rayan became an important leader in Hamas, in particular an Islamic leader of Hamas's military wing,[5] and he regularly went on patrol with Hamas militia after delivering lectures at the Islamic University.[8] He arguably became Hamas's leading clerical authority after an Israeli airstrike killed Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in 2004.[6]

Rayan along with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad began to strongly advocate for suicide bombings to be carried out against Israel in 1994.[12] According to Chris Hedges who interviewed him, Rayan constantly said that Hamas, "began to target Israeli civilians in 1994 only after Palestinian worshipers were gunned down in a Hebron mosque by a Jewish settler, Baruch Goldstein."[11]

In 2001, Rayan sent his 22-year-old son on a suicide bombing mission, in which he died and killed two Israelis at the former Israeli settlement Elei Sinai in the Gaza Strip.[8][12][13][14][15][16][17] Rayan is alleged to have directed the 2004 Ashdod Port attack which killed ten people.[5][17][18][19] Hamas ceased its suicide attacks against Israel in 2005,[8][10] but Rayan advocated for their renewal after the 2008-2009 Gaza conflict began.[20]

Rayan was one of the main commanders who oversaw the 2007 Battle of Gaza, in which Hamas expelled Fatah from Gaza. Fatah security forces were militarily defeated, the battle resulting in the death of 115 fighters and 400 civilians. Both Hamas and Fatah were accused of atrocities, including torture, during the conflict.[8][21][22] According to The Jerusalem Post, Rayan, "boasted that the Gaza Strip had been 'cleansed' of 'traitors' 'secularists' and 'CIA agents' - a reference to Abbas and his former security and intelligence chiefs."[5] According to a Hamas spokesperson, it is possible the Fatah-dominated Palestinian National Authority asked Israel to kill Rayan due to his role in the Hamas-Fatah clashes.[5] He added that Rayan was one of the main reasons why many of Mahmoud Abbas's men "did not sleep well at all at night."[5]

Rayan was strongly opposed to the state of Israel.[13] According to Israeli-American writer Jeffrey Goldberg, he at one time stated, "True Islam would never allow a Jewish state to survive in the Arab and Muslim Middle East. Israel is an impossibility. It is an offense against God."[23] Goldberg also reported that Rayan said he believed Jews are a "cursed people" some of whom were transformed into pigs and apes by Allah,[23] and that Jews must pay for murdering the prophets of Islam and "closing [their] ears to the Messenger of Allah."[23]

Rayan married four women with whom he had 12 children.[24]

Hamas takeover of Gaza

Following the 2007 Hamas takeover of Gaza, Rayan said that "In a few hours, the secular era in Gaza will end without leaving a trace... Today heresy and apostasy ends. Today the struggle is between Islam and the non-muslim infidels, and it will end with the victory of the faith." He added that he would transform the PA security forces headquarters in Gaza to a mosque. Following the speech, Fatah members expressed great fear that Hamas would transform Gaza into a Taliban-style Islamist emirate with Iranian and Syrian military support.[25][26]

Assassination

Israeli F-16i of the 107th Squadron preparing for take-off during Gaza War

Rayan was killed in an Israeli Air Force strike on 1 January 2009 during the Gaza War.[27] The day before the attack, Rayan had advocated renewal of suicide bombings on Israel, declaring, "Our only language with the Jews is through armed resistance and Jihad".[8] A 2,000-pound bomb was dropped on his house by an Israeli F-16 fighter jet, also killing his 4 wives (Hiam 'Abdul Rahman Rayan, 46; Iman Khalil Rayan, 46; Nawal Isma'il Rayan, 40; and Sherine Sa'id Rayan, 25) and 11 of their children (As'ad, 2; Usama Ibn Zaid, 3; 'Aisha, 3; Reem, 4; Miriam, 5; Halima, 5; 'Abdul Rahman, 6; Abdul Qader, 12; Aaya, 12; Zainab, 15; and Ghassan, 16).[12][15][28][29][30]

Unlike other Hamas leaders at risk of being targeted by Israel, Rayan did not go underground after the first Gaza war with Israel began in late December 2008.[9][13][17][31] According to a Hamas spokesperson, the IDF and Shin Bet warned Rayan by contacting his telephone that an attack on his house was imminent.[4][8][17][32] An Israeli military spokesperson interviewed by The International Herald Tribune "could not give details or specify whether Rayan's family had been warned."[33]

Israeli security sources stated that Rayan's house, at the time of the attack, was a munitions warehouse and communications center,[5] and contained a tunnel opening.[17] The sources also stated that a weapons cache in the house triggered many secondary explosions immediately after the air strike.[8][16][29] The New York Daily News commented that Rayan had "sacrificed his children - in a vain attempt to protect a weapons base beneath his home."[8] Israeli security forces legal officials regard striking homes used for weapons storage, when sufficient warning is given to the residents, as falling within the boundaries of international law and a legitimate act of war.[34] However, in the opinion of B'Tselem (The Israeli Center for Human Rights Information in the Occupied Territories), even if the Israeli charge that Rayan's house was an arms warehouse was true, the large number of civilian lives taken rendered the attack "a grave breach of international humanitarian law." The Israeli NGO added that, given the Israeli military "knew or should have known" that civilians had not left Rayan's house, warning Rayan of the impending attack did not exempt Israeli forces from responsibility for the civilian deaths.[35] According to the Israeli Government report published in July 2009, Nizar Rayan was not the target of the attack; instead, the operational goal of the strike was to destroy Hamas' central compound which included several buildings that served as storage sites for weapons that included missiles and rockets. The report further states that specific phone calls to the residents of the targeted buildings were made, as well as three rounds of preliminary warning shots, 13 minutes and 9 minutes before the strike, were fired; a group of the residents leaving the building were seen by IDF surveillance, leading to a reasonable conclusion that the buildings were empty. The IDF said that in this case laws of armed conflict were not violated, as the strike was directed at proper military objective and at-risk civilians were issued effective advance warnings.[36]

Rayan was the most senior Hamas member killed in a targeted killing since Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi was killed by an Israeli Apache helicopter strike in 2004.[14] Hamas said that Israel would pay a "heavy price" for his death.[8]

References

  1. ↑ الغارات الإسرائيلية على قطاع غزة تودي بحياة قيادي بارز في حماس (alarabiya)
  2. ↑ According to The Independent, Rayan was born in 1956.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fighel, Jonathan (1 February 2009). "The Mujaheed Sheikh - Dr. Nizar Rayyan The Islamic cleric of Iz A-Din Al Qassam Brigades". International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism. Archived from the original on 28 August 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  4. 1 2 Ghazali, Said; MacIntyre, Donald (2 January 2009). "Profile of a professor who was prepared for martyrdom". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 No tears for Hamas leader in Ramallah, Jerusalem Post, 1 January 2009.
  6. 1 2 Nizar Rayan UK Guardian 3 January 2009
  7. ↑ "Top Hamas figure killed in Israeli airstrike; Israel demands monitors as part of a Gaza truce". NBC News. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Israel fells key Hamas strongman, escalating conflict; says it's ready for ground invasion" New York Daily News 1 January 2009
  9. 1 2 "Israel kills senior Hamas figure". AlJazeera.Net. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  10. 1 2 "IAF kills one of Hamas' top five leaders in Gaza". Haaretz. 1 January 2009. Archived from the original on 3 January 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  11. 1 2 Hedges, Chris (2 January 2009). "Lost in the Rubble". truthdig. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
  12. 1 2 3 "Israeli strike kills senior Hamas leader". Reuters. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
  13. 1 2 3 "Obituary: Nizar Rayyan" BBC 1 January 2009
  14. 1 2 Khalil, Ashraf; Burai, Ahmed (1 January 2009). "Israeli strike kills a top Hamas leader in Gaza". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  15. 1 2 "Strike Kills Hamas Leader as Israel Demands Global Monitors for Truce". FOX News. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  16. 1 2 "Israel Kills Top Hamas Figure". New York Post. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 "Hamas leader, 20 Palestinians killed in IAF strikes". Ynet. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  18. ↑ "Profile: Nizar Rayyan". Al Jazeera. 4 January 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  19. ↑ "Hamas Senior Official Rayyan Killed in Israeli Strike". Bloomberg L.P. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
  20. ↑ Hardline Hamas leader killed in air strike on Gaza home The Telegraph 1 January 2009
  21. ↑ Exposing the bitter truth of Gaza carnage The Age (Australia) 23 June 2007
  22. ↑ "Gaza-Westbank–ICRC Bulletin No. 22/2007" Reuters 15 June 2007
  23. 1 2 3 Goldberg, Jeffrey (2 January 2009). "Nizar Rayyan of Hamas on God's Hatred of Jews". The Atlantic. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  24. ↑ "Israel destroys Hamas homes, flattens Gaza mosque". Yahoo News. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
  25. ↑ "Gaza May Turn into Taliban-Style Emirate". The Journal of Turkiah Weekly. 20 June 2007. Archived from the original on 12 June 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  26. ↑ Hamas says will not follow Taliban method in Gaza. Xinhua, 14 June 2007
  27. ↑ Israel raids kill Hamas leader, take Gaza death toll past 400 AFP, 1 January 2009
  28. ↑ Haaretz Correspondents and Agencies, Amos Harel and Yoav Stern (2 January 2009). "IDF targets senior Hamas figures". Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
  29. 1 2 The Associated Press (1 January 2009). "Child casualties mount in besieged Gaza". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  30. ↑ IOF Offensive on the Gaza Strip Continues for the 7th Consecutive Day Archived 13 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 15 January 2009
  31. ↑ Abdulrahman, Mohammed (1 January 2009). "Hamas has gone underground". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  32. ↑ Butcher, Tim (1 January 2009). "Hardline Hamas leader killed in air strike on Gaza home". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
  33. ↑ Kershner, Isabel Kershner; El Khodary, Taghreed (2 January 2009). "As bombing continues, Israel allows some foreigners to leave Gaza". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  34. ↑ "The Mujaheed Sheikh - Dr. Nizar Rayyan - The Spiritual Mentor of Iz A-Din Al Qassam Brigades". ICT. 4 January 2009. Archived from the original on 10 February 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  35. ↑ The killing of Nizar Rayan and 15 members of his family B'Tselem 4 January 2009
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