Fathi Hamad

Who is Fathi Hamad?

Fathi Hamad is a political leader of Hamas. In April 2009, he was appointed the new Interior Minister in the Gaza Strip, replacing Said Seyam who was assassinated by Israel in the 2008-09 Gaza War. Hamad became a Hamas-affiliated member of the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006, representing his home town of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza. He also leads the Hamas Public Affairs Department and is the director of Al-Aqsa TV, the Hamas-run television station.

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 kidnap soldiers, this marked the first time money had been offered.

Despite Hamad's hostility toward Israel, his ill three-year old daughter was sent to Jordan for medical treatment through the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing. For initial medical treatment, she was first sent to Barzilai Hospital in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. Her subsequent transfer to Jordan was authorized by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the IDF Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi.