The Israeli army on Saturday announced that it had assassinated Khaled Mansour, one of the most prominent leaders of Saraya al-Quds (the military arm of the Islamic Jihad movement) in a raid in Rafah city.
This is the second assassination carried out by the occupation forces of a leader of the Islamic Jihad movement inside the Gaza Strip in two days after the killing of Tayseer Al-Jabari, a prominent leader in Saraya al-Quds, on Friday.
Who is Khaled Mansour?
According to the official website of the Al-Quds Brigades, Khaled Mansour, commander of the southern region in the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, was also one of the first founders of the Al-Quds Brigades groups in the Gaza Strip.
47-year-old Mansour, born in the city of Rafah, joined the Islamic Jihad movement since his early childhood, and worked in its first military arm, which was called Saif al-Islam in 1987.
Mansour was known for his love of sports, especially bodybuilding, in which he excelled, and won several gold medals, and won the Palestine Championship twice in this game in 1996 and 1997.
He was supervising the implementation of many jihad operations waged by Al-Quds Brigades against the enemy.
Khaled Mansour was subjected to assassination attempts, all of which failed, the most serious of which was in 2014.
He joined the movement’s military wing in 1988, which was then known as the Mujahideen Islamic Forces (Qassem).
He is considered the mastermind of martyrdom operations during the Al-Aqsa Intifada (2000-2005).
He was responsible for developing the infrastructure of the Al-Quds Brigades, especially in the field of local missile manufacturing.
As per media reports, Israel accuses Mansour of overseeing many of the attacks launched by the Al-Quds Brigades against it during the past years.