Since its establishment, Hamas military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, has operated under a veil of secrecy. Ahmed Jabari, the head of the military wing who was killed in an Israeli air strike on Wednesday, knew that his group's activities were monitored by Israel daily and tried to compartmentalize those activities from the Hamas civilian leadership in Gaza. Hamas civilian leaders in Gaza viewed Jabari as an independent operator who took orders only from Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal and his deputy Moussa Abu Marzouk. Recently, the relationship between Jabari and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh became tense after Haniyeh accused Jabari of conducting military operations against Israel that were not coordinated with the Hamas political echelon. Hamas is unlikely to issue a list of potential replacements for Jabari, but several prominent names stand out in the hierarchy of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades: Imad Akel, Ahmed Randor, Ayman Nofal and Mohammed Abu-Shamala. There were reports that Akel, from the Nuseirat refugee camp, was appointed as head of the military wing in 2008, but this was never confirmed by Hamas. Akel has survived two Israeli assassination attempts, one in 2003 and the other in 2009 during Operation Cast Lead. Randor has served as the head of the military wing in Gaza's northern region since 2004. He was a close associate of former Hamas military wing chief Mohammed Deif. Randor has survived three assassination attempts. Nofal is the head of the military wing in Gaza's central region. He was detained by Egypt in 2008 and escaped from prison there when the regime of Hosni Mubarak fell in February 2011. After his escape, he returned to Gaza. Abu-Shamala is the head of the military wing in Gaza's southern region and is in charge of the smuggling tunnels in Rafah.
