Overview

Maher Obeid is an internationally designated senior Hamas political leader and the group’s former West Bank military leader.Elior Levy “New Head of Hamas Terror Operations in West Bank Revealed,” Ynet News, January 10, 2018, www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5069099,00.html; U.S. And UK Target Additional Hamas Finance Officials and Representatives,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, December 13, 2023, https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1981; “CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK,” Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation HM Treasury, last updated December 15, 2023, https://ofsistorage.blob.core.windows.net/publishlive/2022format/ConList.html. He has been a member of Hamas’s political bureau since 2010Jonathan Schanzer, “Hamas Still Finds Harbor in Turkey,” Washington Examiner, June 9, 2016, www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/hamas-still-finds-harbor-in-turkey. and reportedly helped found Hamas’s branch in Hebron in the West Bank.Baruch Yedid, “Hamas Elects Saleh Arouri as New Commander for Judea & Samaria,” Jewish Press, July 4, 2021, https://www.jewishpress.com/news/eye-on-palestine/hamas/hamas-elects-saleh-arouri-as-new-commander-for-judea-samaria/2021/07/04/. Obeid is also reportedly involved in directing several schools in Jerusalem and Hebron.“Mapping Palestinian Politics – Maher Obeid,” European Council on Foreign Relations, accessed September 23, 2021, https://ecfr.eu/special/mapping_palestinian_politics/maher_obeid/.

Israeli security forces arrested Obeid multiple times during the first Palestinian intifada in the 1980s and in the early 1990s. Obeid led Hamas activities in Israeli prisons.Elior Levy “New Head of Hamas Terror Operations in West Bank Revealed,” Ynet News, January 10, 2018, www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5069099,00.html; “Mapping Palestinian Politics – Maher Obeid,” European Council on Foreign Relations, accessed September 23, 2021, https://ecfr.eu/special/mapping_palestinian_politics/maher_obeid/. In December 1992, Israel expelled Obeid, along with 400 other Palestinians, to Lebanon. The expulsion was retaliation by the Israeli government against Islamic fundamentalists who had recently killed four Israeli soldiers and a border policeman. The expulsion was the largest Israel had carried out to-date. The government called the expulsion necessary to send a firm message to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), which Israel blamed for violent unrest.Clyde Haberman, “Israel Expels 400 from Occupied Lands; Lebanese Deploy to Bar Entry of Palestinians,” New York Times, December 18, 1992, www.nytimes.com/1992/12/18/world/israel-expels-400-occupied-lands-lebanese-deploy-bar-entry-palestinians.html; Elior Levy “New Head of Hamas Terror Operations in West Bank Revealed,” Ynet News, January 10, 2018, www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5069099,00.html.

In 2010, Obeid joined Hamas’s political bureau.Jonathan Schanzer, “Hamas Still Finds Harbor in Turkey,” Washington Examiner, June 9, 2016, www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/hamas-still-finds-harbor-in-turkey. By the following year, Obeid had allegedly laundered tens of millions of euros from Turkish territory to Hamas’s military and political wings in Gaza.David Andrew Weinberg, “Terrorist Financing: Kidnapping, Antiquities Trafficking, and Private Donations,” Testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade,” November 17, 2015, http://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA18/20151117/104202/HHRG-114-FA18-Wstate-WeinbergD-20151117.pdf; Jonathan Schanzer, “Assessing the U.S.-Qatar Relationship,” Foundation for Defense of Democracies, July 26, 2017, https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA13/20170726/106329/HHRG-115-FA13-Wstate-SchanzerJ-20170726.pdf. In 2011, Obeid was reportedly based in Qatar and in charge of laundering money from Turkish territory to Hamas’s military and political wings in the Gaza Strip. By 2016, Obeid had moved to Istanbul, Turkey, where he was allegedly in charge of Hamas’s international relations.Jonathan Schanzer, “Hamas Still Finds Harbor in Turkey,” Washington Examiner, June 9, 2016, www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/hamas-still-finds-harbor-in-turkey.

As a member of Hamas’s political bureau, Obeid has been part of high-level Hamas delegations to multiple countries, notably Iran and Qatar. Iran has long provided financial support to Hamas but downgraded its ties after the 2011 Arab Spring and the start of the Syrian civil war as Hamas supported protests against Iranian ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.Rushdi Abu Alouf, “Gazans squeezed by triple taxes as Hamas replaces lost income,” BBC News, June 20, 2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36274631; Robert Tait, “Iran Cuts Hamas Funding over Syria,” Telegraph (London), May 31, 2013, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/10091629/Iran-cuts-Hamas-funding-over-Syria.html. In March 2014, Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani claimed relations between Hamas and Iran had returned to normal and that Iran continued to support Hamas as a “resistance organization.Elhanan Miller, “Hamas and Iran Admit Increased Cooperation,” Times of Israel, March 12, 2014, http://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-and-iran-admit-increased-cooperation/. That December, Obeid joined a Hamas delegation to Tehran for meetings on the Palestinian issue. Also in attendance were Osama Hamdan, Jamal Issa, and Khaled Qaddoumi, Hamas’s representative in Tehran.“Hamas leaders arrive in Tehran,” Middle East Monitor, December 9, 2014, https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20141209-hamas-leaders-arrive-in-tehran/. In February 2016, Obeid joined another Hamas delegation in meeting with Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in Tehran. Soleimani told the delegation both Iran and Hamas had changed since the Arab Spring and Iran wanted to resume its relationship with the terror group.https://news.walla.co.il/item/2944458.

Obeid has also served in numerous Hamas delegations to Egypt and other countries. In December 2017, Obeid joined Hamas politburo member Muhammad Nazzal in attending a meeting of the African National Congress (ANC) conference in Johannesburg, South Africa. They claimed they want to observe the democratic processes in the ANC, which was discussing downgrading ties with Israel.Ilanit Chernick, “Palestinian delegation cozies up to S. African ruling party at conference,” Jerusalem Post, December 17, 2017, https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/palestinian-delegation-cozies-up-to-s-african-ruling-party-at-conference-518275; “Top Hamas delegation in South Africa for ANC conference,” Palestinian Information Center,  December 16, 2017, https://english.palinfo.com/news/2017/12/16/Top-Hamas-delegation-in-South-Africa-for-ANC-conference. In September 2018, Obeid joined a Hamas delegation to Cairo for talks on intra-Palestinian reconciliation and a ceasefire with Israel. Obeid declared it seems like the Palestinian people would “move towards escalations” to achieve their goals.Jonathan Schanzer, “Hamas Still Finds Harbor in Turkey,” Washington Examiner, June 9, 2016, www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/hamas-still-finds-harbor-in-turkey.; “Hamas Delegation heads to Cairo for ‘Exploratory’ Meetings,” Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), September 10, 2018, https://english.aawsat.com//home/article/1391001/hamas-delegation-heads-cairo-%e2%80%98exploratory%e2%80%99-meetings.

Obeid has also taken an adversarial stance with the Palestinian Authority (PA), which oversees the West Bank. In late April 2018, he accused PA President Mahmoud Abbas of seeking revenge on Hamas by excluding the group from of a meeting of the Palestinian National Council, the legislative body of Abbas’s Palestine Liberation Organization.“Palestinian National Council to discuss ending ties with Israel,” Al Jazeera, April 28, 2018, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/4/28/palestinian-national-council-to-discuss-ending-ties-with-israel.

Israel’s Ynet News reported in January 2018 that Obeid had been appointed as Hamas’s new West Bank military commander after the previous commander, Saleh al-Arouri, was appointed deputy leader of Hamas in October 2017. Obeid denied the report and claimed reports of his appointment were an Israeli ploy to justify his assassination.Elior Levy “New Head of Hamas Terror Operations in West Bank Revealed,” Ynet News, January 10, 2018, www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5069099,00.html. According to Palestinian security sources, Hamas’s West Bank headquarters is divided between the southern West Bank, the central West Bank, and the northern West Bank. Obeid allegedly took command of overseeing all Hamas operations in the West Bank.Elior Levy “New Head of Hamas Terror Operations in West Bank Revealed,” Ynet News, January 10, 2018, www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5069099,00.html. Obeid reportedly appointed Hamas senior officials Fordan Khalifa, Abed Rahman Ghanimat, and Abdullah Arar to oversee the West Bank sectors.Baruch Yedid, “Hamas Elects Saleh Arouri as New Commander for Judea & Samaria,” Jewish Press, July 4, 2021, https://www.jewishpress.com/news/eye-on-palestine/hamas/hamas-elects-saleh-arouri-as-new-commander-for-judea-samaria/2021/07/04/.

In August 2020, Obeid called for the creation of a national committee comprising all Palestinian factions and political forces to address the issue of Jerusalem and defend it from perceived Israeli aggression. In a statement to the Palestinian Information Center, Obeid warned Israel continues to “Judaize” Jerusalem. He called for a national campaign to deter Israel from pressuring so-called true Jerusalemites from leaving the city.https://iqna.ir/en/news/3472206/hamas-urges-establishment-of-nat%E2%80%99l-committee-to-defend-quds.

In Hamas’s secretive internal elections in 2021, Arouri became the head of Hamas operations in the West Bank.Baruch Yedid, “Hamas Elects Saleh Arouri as New Commander for Judea & Samaria,” Jewish Press, July 4, 2021, https://www.jewishpress.com/news/eye-on-palestine/hamas/hamas-elects-saleh-arouri-as-new-commander-for-judea-samaria/2021/07/04/; Reuters and Jerusalem Post staff, “Haniyeh reelected to lead Hamas in internal elections – report,” Jerusalem Post, August 1, 2021, https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/haniyeh-reelected-to-lead-hamas-in-internal-elections-report-675521. Obeid remains part of Hamas’s political bureau and continues to represent Hamas abroad. On January 10, 2021, for example, he joined a Hamas delegation meeting with Qatari Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Doha. The delegation was led by Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and also included Moussa Abu Marzouk, Mohammed Nazzal, Izzat al-Rishq, Husam Badran, and Zaher Jabareen. The delegation discussed Qatari efforts to promote Palestinian unity.“Hamas delegation meets Qatari Emir to discuss Palestinian cause,” Qods International News Agency, January 11, 2021, http://qodsna.com/en/350759/Hamas-delegation-meets-Qatari-Emir-to-discuss-Palestinian-cause.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a mass attack on Israel, sending hundreds of fighters into Israeli towns and military bases within 15 miles of the Gaza border while simultaneously launching a rocket barrage toward Israel.Josef Federman and Issam Adwan, “Hamas surprise attack out of Gaza stuns Israel and leaves hundreds dead in fighting, retaliation,” Associated Press, October 7, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-rockets-airstrikes-tel-aviv-11fb98655c256d54ecb5329284fc37d2; Josef Federman and Issam Adwan, “Hamas surprise attack out of Gaza stuns Israel and leaves hundreds dead in fighting, retaliation,” Associated Press, October 7, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-rockets-airstrikes-tel-aviv-11fb98655c256d54ecb5329284fc37d2. Hamas killed at least 1,200 people and captured approximately 240 civilian and military hostages.Josef Federman and Issam Adwan, “Hamas surprise attack out of Gaza stuns Israel and leaves hundreds dead in fighting, retaliation,” Associated Press, October 7, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-rockets-airstrikes-tel-aviv-11fb98655c256d54ecb5329284fc37d2; “Israel revises Hamas attack death toll to ‘around 1,200,’” Reuters, November 10, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-revises-death-toll-oct-7-hamas-attack-around-1200-2023-11-10/. Hamas labeled the attack Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.“Operation Al Aqsa Flood,” Hamas Online Telegram Channel, October 7, 2023. Following the attack, Israel issued an official declaration of war against Hamas and vowed to cripple the terrorist organization.Tia Goldenberg and Wafaa Shurafa, “Israel declares war, bombards Gaza and battles to dislodge Hamas fighters after surprise attack,” Associated Press, October 8, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-rockets-airstrikes-tel-aviv-ca7903976387cfc1e1011ce9ea805a71. The United States and United Kingdom sanctioned Obeid, alongside other Hamas leaders and financiers, on December 13 for his role in Hamas. The United States accused Obeid of previously directing attacks in Gaza from the West Bank until 2010, when he joined Hamas’s political bureau.“U.S. And UK Target Additional Hamas Finance Officials and Representatives,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, December 13, 2023, https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1981; “CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK,” Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation HM Treasury, last updated December 15, 2023, https://ofsistorage.blob.core.windows.net/publishlive/2022format/ConList.html. Hamas condemned the designation as “part of the collusion of the American and British governments with the Zionist entity in its aggression against our people and the demonization of its legitimate resistance.”Hamas statement, Hamas Online Telegram Channel, December 13, 2023.