Yunis Hunnar
يونس هنار
DiedJune 2, 2015
Gaza City
Cause of deathAssassination by Hamas Police
NationalityPalestinian
Years active2015
OrganizationSheikh Omar Hadid Brigade
Known forFounding the Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade group in the Palestinian Territories
Organised assassination of high-ranking Hamas official
MovementSalafi jihadism
OpponentHamas
Criminal chargeTerrorism

Yunis Hunnar (Arabic: يونس هنار; died 2 June 2015) was the leader of the Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade, a Salafi Jihadist group based in the Gaza Strip which carries out attacks against both Hamas and Israel.

Islamist militant activities and assassination

Hunnar's home in Gaza City was raided by Hamas Police on June 2, 2015,[1] with Hamas later saying he had led the Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade group[2] (also known as ISIS in Gaza). Following his arrest, Yunis Hunnar was shot dead by the police forces. There have been conflicting reports on the cause and manner of his death. According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights:[3]

'...[Hamas] security services in the Gaza Strip killed Yunis Sa'id al-Hunnar while attempting to arrest him from his house in Shaikh Redwan neighbourhood in Gaza City...according to the al-Hunnar's wife, "at approximately 09:00 on Tuesday, 02 June 2015, a large number of armed persons in black, some of whom were masked, raided the house and opened fire. They then kept me in a room for about an hour, during which they searched the house and seized books and papers. When I went out of the room, I was surprised to see a pool of blood by the apartment's door. I then learnt that my husband was killed and they took his body"...'

The assassination of Yunis Hunnar came as part of a crackdown launched by Hamas on Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) affiliates in Gaza, which started when the Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem pledged allegiance to ISIL on February 11, 2014.[4] The crackdown intensified when the Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade ISIL affiliate officially formed in late May 2015.[5]

References

  1. ^ "After Security Services Killed a Man While Attempting to Arrest Him, PCHR Calls Upon Attorney Genera". UNDPI: Ref: 27/2015 On Tuesday 2 June 2015, security Services in the Gaza Strip killed Yunis Sa'id al-Hunnar while attempting to arrest him from his house in Shaikh Redwan neighborhood in Gaza City. UNDPI. June 4, 2015. Archived from the original on September 1, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  2. ^ Blade, Elizabeth (June 9, 2015). "Worse Than Hamas? ISIS in Gaza". IsraelToday: Earlier this month Hamas “police” stormed the Gaza home of Yunis Hunnar, believed to be a member of a Salafi group linked to ISIS. A Hamas spokesman later said Hunnar had carried out attacks against the ruling group in May. Nor was it the first time Hamas’ rule had been challenged by Islamists more radical than itself. Archived from the original on July 6, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  3. ^ "After Security Services Killed a Man While Attempting to Arrest Him, PCHR Calls Upon Attorney General in Gaza to Investigate the Incident and Publish Results". PCHR: On Tuesday 02 June 2015, security Services in the Gaza Strip killed Yunis Sa'id al-Hunnar while attempting to arrest him from his house in Shaikh Redwan neighborhood in Gaza City. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) is gravely concerned over this incident, and calls upon the Attorney General to investigate it, find out why security services opened fire, verify that security services exhausted all the necessary measures before using live ammunition that resulted in the killing of al-Hunnar and publish the results of the investigation. June 2, 2015. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  4. ^ al-Ghoul, Asmaa (February 11, 2014). "Gaza Salafists pledge allegiance to ISIS". AlMonitor: GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — It seems Ayman al-Zawahri’s statement on Jan. 22 disavowing Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) had very little impact on the Salafist jihadist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  5. ^ Reed, John (June 1, 2015). "Hamas seeks to stamp out Isis in Gaza". FinancialTimes: Night-time security checkpoints have gone up around Gaza City over the past month — the most visible sign of a crackdown by the ruling Islamist movement Hamas on local followers of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (or Isis). Retrieved June 10, 2015.
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