Overview

Ali Hassan Ghali was the head of the rocket unit of the Al-Quds Brigades of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Ghali co-founded the rocket unit. He reportedly had more than 20 years of experience with PIJ’s rockets. Israel killed Ghali in a targeted strike in Gaza on May 11, 2023, during a period of PIJ rocket attacks and Israeli retaliations. As of May 11, PIJ had fired at least 523 rockets toward Israel since May 9.Elliott Gotkine, Ibrahim Dahman, Abeer Salman, Richard Allen Greene, and Sana Noor Haq, “Israeli airstrikes kill Islamic Jihad’s rocket commander, militants group says,” CNN, May 11, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/11/middleeast/israel-gaza-idf-airstrikes-intl/index.html; Yonah Jeremy Bob, “Islamic Jihad operative responsible for Sderot rockets killed in IDF targeted attack,” Jerusalem Post, May 11, 2023, https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-742748; Lahav Harkov, “Egypt intensifies ceasefire efforts, sending envoys to Israel,” Jerusalem Post, May 11, 2023, https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-742742; Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Dan Williams, “Israel kills senior Gaza commanders as rockets cause first death in Israel,” Reuters, May 11, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-kills-senior-gaza-commander-militants-fire-rockets-across-border-2023-05-11/.

On May 9, 2023, Israel launched Operation Shield and Arrow against PIJ in Gaza in response to the more than 100 rockets PIJ had fired the week before following the death in custody of PIJ spokesman Khader Adnan from a hunger strike. The May 9 airstrikes killed senior PIJ commanders Jihad Ghannam, Tareq Izzeldeen, and Khalil Al-Bahtini in Gaza.Nidal Al-Mughrabi, “Israel kills three Islamic Jihad leaders, 10 civilians in Gaza,” Reuters, May 9, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-jets-strike-islamic-jihad-targets-gaza-military-2023-05-08/; Yaakov Lapin, “‘Operation Shield and Arrow’ seeks to re-establish Israeli deterrence,” Jewish News Syndicate, May 9, 2023, https://www.jns.org/operation-shield-and-arrow-seeks-to-reestablish-israeli-deterrence/. PIJ responded by launching more than 500 rockets toward Israeli towns.Lahav Harkov, “Egypt intensifies ceasefire efforts, sending envoys to Israel,” Jerusalem Post, May 11, 2023, https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-742742; Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Dan Williams, “Israel kills senior Gaza commanders as rockets cause first death in Israel,” Reuters, May 11, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-kills-senior-gaza-commander-militants-fire-rockets-across-border-2023-05-11/. Israel targeted Ghali in his sister’s apartment building in the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza in a pre-dawn strike on May 11. The strike also killed Ghali’s brother, Mahmoud Hasan Abu Ghali, and nephew, Mahmoud Walid Abdul-Jawad. Both were identified as members of PIJ. Ten other people were reportedly wounded as well. Israel accused Ghali of responsibility for hundreds of rockets launched toward the state the day before, as well as other recent attacks. After the strike, PIJ threatened to “expand the circle of fire.”“Ali Hassan Abu Ghali,” Israel-Palestine Timeline, accessed May 12, 2023, https://israelpalestinetimeline.org/ali-hassan-ghali/; Elisha Ben Kimon and Einav Halabi, “Commander of Islamic Jihad’s rocket forces assassinated in Israeli strike, IDF says,” Ynet News, May 11, 2023, https://www.ynetnews.com/article/by3vsecvh; Elliott Gotkine, Ibrahim Dahman, Abeer Salman, Amir Tal, Richard Allen Greene, and Sana Noor Haq, “Israel suffers first rocket death in clash with Islamic Jihad that has left at least 30 Palestinians dead,” CNN, May 12, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/11/middleeast/israel-gaza-idf-airstrikes-intl/index.html. PIJ described Ghali’s death as a “treacherous Zionist assassination.”“Rocket kills man in Israel as strikes target Gaza militant commanders,” BBC News, May 11, 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-65553728. Ghali took over as head of the Al-Quds Brigades rocket unit and joined its military council in 2019.Elliott Gotkine, Ibrahim Dahman, Abeer Salman, Amir Tal, Richard Allen Greene, and Sana Noor Haq, “Israel suffers first rocket death in clash with Islamic Jihad that has left at least 30 Palestinians dead,” CNN, May 12, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/11/middleeast/israel-gaza-idf-airstrikes-intl/index.html. Ghali succeeded Khaled Mansour, who became PIJ’s southern Gaza commander. Israel killed Mansour in an airstrike on August 6, 2022.Aurora Intel, Twitter post, May 10, 2023, 8:07 p.m., https://twitter.com/AuroraIntel/status/1656450922417905666; Emanuel Fabian, “Israel strikes and kills another top Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza,” Times of Israel, August 7, 2022, https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-strikes-and-kills-another-top-islamic-jihad-commander-in-gaza/. According to PIJ, Ghali had survived multiple previous assassination attempts.Elliott Gotkine, Ibrahim Dahman, Abeer Salman, Amir Tal, Richard Allen Greene, and Sana Noor Haq, “Israel suffers first rocket death in clash with Islamic Jihad that has left at least 30 Palestinians dead,” CNN, May 12, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/11/middleeast/israel-gaza-idf-airstrikes-intl/index.html. The Israeli strike targeted Ghali at about 1 a.m. on May 11. At 4:30 p.m., a separate strike killed Ghali’s deputy, Ahmed Abu Daqa.Yonah Jeremy Bob, “Islamic Jihad operative responsible for Sderot rockets killed in IDF targeted attack,” Jerusalem Post, May 11, 2023, https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-742748.