Ahmad Naji al-Ghandur

Ahmed Abu Ghandour, also known as Abu Anas al-Ghandour ( – 10 November 2023), was a Palestinian senior militant in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. As commander of the Northern Gaza Brigade, he was a member of the Al-Qassam Brigades' General Military Council and was considered to be a close confidant of Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. In 2017, Ghandour was designated by the United States as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. In November 2023, he was killed by an Israeli airstrike amid the Gaza war.

Biography Ghandour was born in approximately 1967 in Jaffa, Israel. Ghandour was detained in Israel between 1988 and 1994, after which he was in Palestinian Authority detention from 1995 to 2000. He was released after the outbreak of the Second Intifada. In 2002, he survived the first assassination attempt by Israel.

By 2003, Ghandour was a close aide to Hamas bombmaker Adnan al-Ghoul. After an attack by Hamas militants on an Israeli tank in February 2003, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) demolished Ghandour's house in the Sheik Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City. Israel believed Ghandour was responsible for planning the attack.

By 2004, Ghandour commanded the Northern Branch of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. In this role, he was the senior Hamas battlefield commander during the 2004 Israeli operation in the northern Gaza Strip and was involved in leading a number of operations including the 2006 Gaza cross-border raid that led to the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Ghandour was targeted for assassination again in 2012.

According to the United States government, Ghandour was part of the Hamas Shura Council and Political Bureau. Three Israeli hostages were also killed in the attack: Elia Toledano, Nik Beizer, and Ron Sherman.