17 years since Mohammed Shehadeh, Hezbollah-inspired Palestinian fighter, was martyred

By Press TV Website Staff

This week, 17 years ago, Israeli occupation forces opened fire on a car in the occupied West Bank, killing four Palestinian resistance fighters and derailing efforts for a ceasefire between the Tel Aviv regime and the Gaza-based resistance movement Hamas.

One of the slain men was Mohammed Shehadeh, the commander of the Islamic Jihad resistance movement in the Bethlehem area, an iconic anti-occupation figure in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Israeli media at the time reported that the four men had been on the regime’s "wanted list" since 2000.

“This new crime reflects the true face of the occupation,” Islamic Jihad leader Nafez Azzam said after the cowardly attack, condemning the horrendous crimes of the Zionist occupation.

Just before the attack that killed Shehadeh and his companions, the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip had called for a ceasefire with Israel, with conditions including a halt to the regime’s aggression against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Shehadeh was inspired by the Hezbollah resistance movement, a fact evident at his funeral, where his coffin was wrapped in the flag of the Lebanese Islamic resistance movement.

He was the founder of the Martyr Imad Mughniyeh armed resistance group in Palestine and masterminded the first revenge operation, which resulted in the killing of eight Zionist soldiers.

According to locals, Hezbollah’s popularity in the occupied West Bank grew tremendously after the 2006 33-day war, in which the Lebanese movement inflicted a crushing defeat on Israel.

Shehadeh was one of the Palestinian resistance commanders who was inspired by Hezbollah leaders, particularly its military wing chief, Imad Mughniyeh.

Mughniyeh was assassinated around a month before Shehadeh in Kafar Sousah, Syria.

“Hezbollah is coming,” chanted those who participated in Shehadeh’s funeral on March 12, 2008, vowing revenge for the assassination of Islamic Jihad commanders.

Their martyrdom was widely mourned in the occupied West Bank town of Bethlehem, where both Muslims and Christians came together to pay tribute to the resistance fighters.

According to a report in Palestine Chronicle, thousands of Christians in Bethlehem mourned Shehadeh and other slain commanders outside the Nativity Church. A local Christian leader said they admired his ability to stand up to Israeli occupation forces and violent settlers.

Shehadeh, according to those who knew him closely, vowed to resist the illegitimate occupation regime as a young boy after witnessing horrendous crimes against his people.

He joined the ranks of the resistance at a young age and participated in many operations.

In 1981, the occupation regime sentenced Shehadeh to a 25-year jail term, but he was later released as part of a prisoner swap deal.

In 1992, he was expelled from the occupied West Bank and sent to southern Lebanon along with senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh and Mahmoud an-Zahhar.

Shehadeh was also well known in the occupied West Bank for his crusade against endemic corruption in the Palestinian Authority and the Mahmoud Abbas-led Fatah group.

His son, Hamdi Mohammed Shehadeh Al-Taamari, also a member of the Palestinian resistance movement, was detained by the occupation in 2013 and was recently released.

In one of his viral videos, Hamdi proudly spoke of the "Husseini approach" and Imam Mahdi, the savior of humanity – May God hasten his reappearance.

“You will not control my time; you will not subjugate me. My path is revolutionary, my course is Husseini. I reject a life beneath your boot; rejection is a trait I was born with,” he said.

“You will not crush my soul; you will not steal my right, for truth is my leader, and for its victory, I long. O Awaited One, O Master of Time, your good news today, for the tide has risen."

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