Fauzi Ayub

Fauzi Mohammed Ayub , (also Fawzi), (5 October, 1966 – May 2014) was a Lebanese-Canadian who was a member of Hezbollah and arrested in 2002 by the Israeli Defence Forces. Two years later he was released to his wife and three children in Lebanon in a prisoner exchange that saw 436 Palestinians and Lebanese released in exchange for Elhanan Tannenbaum and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers abducted four years earlier.

His arrest brought debate to Canada over whether to declare Hezbollah a "terrorist" organisation, and whether to continue judging its military branch separately from its political and social service branches.

He was killed in May 2014 while fighting in the Syrian Civil War by a Free Syrian Army ambush in the Battle of Aleppo (2012–2016).

Life I saw dead people, women and children. It affected me. I saw that the miserable ones have to be protected. Fauzi Ayub, before an Israeli court In 1983, he formally joined Hezbollah, and three years later was part of a hijacking plot that targeted Iraqi Airways Flight 163 in Romania, hoping to exchange the airline hostages for Lebanese prisoners held by Iraq.

Return to Lebanon After returning to Lebanon, Ayub and his wife opened a bakery and ran a construction supply outlet, but his businesses began to falter, and the family found themselves in increasing debt. Upon arriving in Israel, he headed for the West Bank.

While in the West Bank, he launched a failed attempt to free three prominent prisoners, Mustafa Dirani, Abdel Karim Obeid and Jihad Shuman, leaving twelve people dead.

In late 2002, Ayub was questioned by Israeli authorities, and explained he was in the region to help oppressed Muslims as a volunteer.

He was arrested on June 25 after Israeli forces stormed the police station where he was located, and Canada was informed of his arrest eight days later. He received three consular visits from Canada, and was tried in Tel Aviv district court by judge Zacharia Caspi.