Mahmoud Issa
Mahmoud Issa (محمود عيسى) was born in 1968, in Anata, a West Bank town on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
He joined Hamas’ soon after its establishment in 1987, becoming a prominent member of its armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. He set up the group’s first armed cell in East Jerusalem, dubbed Special Unit 101, with three companions: Mousa Akari, Mahmoud Attoun and Majed Quteish. The group’s goal was to kidnap Israeli soldiers to exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
In December 1992, they abducted Israeli border policeman Nissim Toledano in the Israeli town of Lod. When the Israeli government refused to release Hamas’s founder, Ahmed Yassin, in exchange, the group executed Toledano.
In response, Israel launched a sweeping crackdown against Islamist activists, predominantly associated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, arresting more than on thousand members and exiling key leaders such as Mahmoud al-Zahar and Ismail Haniyeh to Marj al-Zuhur in southern Lebanon.
Issa’s cell continued its attacks, running over an Israeli soldier and killing two policemen in Hadera in March 1993; and shooting an Israeli soldier in Ramle in May.
Issa was eventually apprehended by Israeli authorities in June 1993 and sentenced to three life-terms. He subsequently spent 13 years in solitary confinement. While in prison he led several hunger strikes and was elected to Hamas’ prison leadership committee. During this time, he also authored several books dealing with political and Islamic thought; as well as short stories.
He was released from prison in October 2025 and deported to Egypt as part of a deal with Hamas to end the 2023 Gaza war and release all Israeli hostages held by Palestinian groups there.
Issa was previously director of the Jerusalem office of “Voice of Right and Freedom”, an Islamist newspaper (founded in Umm al-Fahm in 1988) associated with the Islamic Movement (Northern Branch). Issa joined the student Islamist block while studying Islamic law and jurisprudence at Abu Dis University.