Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Yassin (circa 1937 — March 22, 2004) was the co-founder (with Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi) of Hamas, originally calling it the Palestinian Wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. Because of its attacks on civilian targets, Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by Canada, the European Union, Israel, Japan, and the United States, and is banned in Jordan. Australia and the United Kingdom both list the militant wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, as a terrorist organization.

In addition to being nearly blind, he was a paraplegic and had to use a wheelchair after a playground accident in his youth. He was assassinated by an Israeli helicopter gunship.

Ahmed Yassin was born in Jura, small village near the town of Majdal (today Ashkelon City) in then British Mandate of Palestine. His date of birth is not known for certain: according to his Palestinian passport, he was born on 1 January 1929, but he claimed to have actually been born in 1938. He and his family moved to Gaza after his village was destroyed in 1948 during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

Yassin came to Gaza as a refugee. When he was 12, a sports related injury left him quadriplegic, and forced him to use a wheelchair for life.

Yassin studied at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, following secondary school. Islamist and Pan-Arab movements were strong influences at the University. Yassin joined the Muslim Brotherhood during his studies at Al-Azhar.

Involvement in the Israel-Palestinian conflict

Yassin subsequently became involved with a Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. In 1987, during the first intifada, Yassin co-founded Hamas with Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, originally calling it the Palestinian Wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, and becoming its the spiritual leader. He opposed peaceful conciliation with the Israelis, asserting that Palestine belongs to Palestinians, and is an Islamic land "consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day" and that "The so-called peace path is not peace and it is not a substitute for jihad and resistance."

Yassin did not restrict his remarks to Israelis, but included all Jews stating that "Reconciliation with the Jews is a crime."

In 1997 Yassin was released from Israeli prison as part of an arrangement with Jordan following a failed assassination attempt of Khaled Mashal conducted by the Israeli Mossad in Jordan. Yassin was released by Israel in exchange for two Mossad agents who had been arrested by Jordanian authorities, on condition that he refrain from calling for suicide bombings against Israel.

Following his release, Yassin resumed his leadership of Hamas. He immediately resumed his calls for attacks on Israel, using tactics including suicide bombings, thus violating the condition of his release. His epigram is his most famous quote: "We chose this road, and will end with martyrdom or victory".

Yassin also sought to maintain excellent relation with the Palestinian authority, believing that a clash between the two would undermine the interests of the Palestinian people. Yassin, however, was repeatedly placed under house arrest by the Palestinain authority. Each time he was eventually released, often after extended demonstrations by his supporters.

Yassin criticized the outcome of the 2003 Aqaba summit. His group intially declared temporary truce with Israel. However, in July 2003, the truce unravelled "after Israeli forces killed two Hamas members in retaliation for the suicide bombing of a Jerusalem bus that left 21 people dead."

On September 6, 2003, an Israeli Air Force (IAF) F-16 fired several missiles on a building in Gaza City, the Gaza Strip. Yassin was in the building at the time but survived. Israeli officials later confirmed that Yassin was the target of the attack. His injuries were treated at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Following the assassination attempt, Yassin told reporters that "Days will prove that the assassination policy will not finish the Hamas. Hamas leaders wish to be martyrs and are not scared of death. Jihad will continue and the resistance will continue until we have victory, or we will be martyrs."

Yassin further promised that Hamas would teach Israel an "unforgettable lesson" as a result of the assassination attempt . Yassin made no attempt to guard himself from further attempts on his life or hide his location. Journalists sometimes visited his Gaza address and Yassin maintained a routine daily pattern of activity, including being wheeled every morning to a nearby mosque.

After a woman's suicide bombing at the Erez crossing on January 14, 2004, in which Reem Raiyshi detonated herself, Yassin expressed his satisfaction with the execution of the attack. When asked about the execution of the attack by a woman, Yassin said, "Hamas views women as the reserve force".

Assassination

Ahmed Yassin was killed in an Israeli attack on March 22, 2004. While he was being wheeled out of an early morning prayer session, an Israeli helicopter gunship fired Hellfire missiles at Yassin and both of his bodyguards. They were killed instantly, along with nine other bystanders. Allegedly, more than a dozen people were injured in the operation, including two of Yassin's sons. Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi replaced him as Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, and Rantissi himself was assassinated by Israel on April 17, 2004.

The operation was a part of an ongoing Israeli action against Hamas-sponsored terrorist operations following Sheikh Yassin's taunt that Israel's response to the recent Ashdod terrorist operations was weak and that Hamas would gain strength as a result.

Israel said the targeted killing was in response to dozens of suicide attacks by Hamas against Israeli civilians, and meant to thwart further attacks on Yassin's orders. Yassin's supporters and many countries condemned his assassination.

The Israel Defense Forces issued the following statement regarding the operation:

"This morning, in a security forces operation in the northern Gaza Strip, the IDF targeted a car carrying the head of the Hamas terror organization, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and his aides.

Yassin, responsible for numerous murderous terror attacks, resulting in the deaths of many civilians, both Israeli and foreign, was killed in the attack."

Reaction to assasination

The killing provoked widespread condemnation from the international community. Kofi Annan, UN General secretary, strongly condemned the killing and also called on Israel to halt its policy of assassination . The UN Commission on Human Rights passed a resolution condemning the killing supported by votes from 31 countries including the People's Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Russia, and South Africa with 2 votes against and 18 abstentions. The Arab League council also expressed condemnation , as did the African Union

The UN Security Council failed to pass a resolution condemning Yassin's assassination as the United States vetoed it. Britain, Germany, and Romania abstained. The United States stated that it vetoed the resolution because it did not include an explicit condemnation of Hamas terrorism.

Palestinian

The Palestinian Authority declared three days of mourning and closed Palestinian schools. Flags at President Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah were lowered as he recited a Muslim prayer for Yassin and said, "May you join the martyrs and the prophets. To heaven, you martyr."

Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh said, "This is the moment Sheikh Yassin dreamed about". The Hamas leadership said Ariel Sharon had "opened the gates of hell." Hamas called for retaliation against Israel. About 200,000 people took to the streets of the Gaza Strip for Yassin's funeral as Israeli forces declared a national alert.

Israeli

Shaul Mofaz, the Israeli Defense Minister, branded Yassin "the Palestinian bin Laden" and said, "If we have to balance how many more terrorists Yassin would have sent, how many terrorist attacks he would have approved - if we weigh this on the scales, we acted rightly."

Avraham Poraz, Israel's Interior Minister and member of the centrist Shinui Party, said he believed the assassination of Yassin would "foster further hate and more attacks". Shimon Peres, then leader of the Labour opposition, said, "I do not believe that we can eliminate terrorism by assassinating leaders. It was a misguided decision."

An informal survey by the BBC suggested support for the attack from Israelis .

Arab

Jordanian King Abd Allah II described Israel's killing as a "crime".

Lebanon's president Emile Lahud vehemently denounced the Israeli act. "Israel has committed a crime but will not succeed in liquidating the Palestinian cause, for the resistance is going to increase."

In Kuwait, Prime Minister Shaikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah said: "Violence will increase now because violence always breeds violence."

The head of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Muhammad Akif, described Yasin as a "martyr" and his assassination a "cowardly operation."

Western

Jack Straw, then British Foreign Secretary, said: "All of us understand Israel's need to protect itself - and it is fully entitled to do that - against the terrorism which affects it, within international law. But it is not entitled to go in for this kind of unlawful killing and we condemn it. It is unacceptable, it is unjustified and it is very unlikely to achieve its objectives."

The White House equivocally condemned the action. Scott McClellan, the White House Press Secretary, said, "We are deeply troubled by this morning's incident," but he added, "Israel had the right to defend itself" and stressed that Yassin had been "personally involved in terrorism".

A State Department spokesman said: "This does not help efforts to resume progress towards peace."

US ambassador to Iraq John Negroponte stated that the USA was "deeply troubled", and characterized Yassin as "the leader of a terrorist organization [...] who preached hatred, and glorified suicide bombings of buses, restaurants, and cafes."