Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi

Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi was born on October 23, 1947, in the village of Yibna near Jaffa. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, his family was displaced to the Khan Younis refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Demonstrating exceptional academic excellence, Rantisi earned a scholarship to Alexandria University in Egypt, graduating with honors in pediatric medicine in 1972 and later completing a master’s degree in pediatrics.

Returning to Gaza, Dr. Rantisi served as chief pediatrician at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and taught genetics and parasitology at the Islamic University of Gaza. In December 1987, amidst the eruption of the First Palestinian Intifada, Dr. Rantisi co-founded Hamas alongside Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and five other leaders. In 1992, he was among 415 Palestinian figures deported by Israel to Marj al-Zuhour in southern Lebanon, where he served as chief spokesperson, commanding international media attention.

Renowned for his unyielding rhetoric and medical service to Gaza’s refugee children, Rantisi assumed overall leadership of Hamas following the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in March 2004. Less than a month later, on April 17, 2004, Rantisi was killed in an Israeli helicopter strike in Gaza City, remembered as a central figure in modern Palestinian resistance politics.