Zaher Jabareen: Teacher of Yahya Ayyash, Hamas Finance Minister on Israeli Hit List

Zaher Jabareen, a prominent leader in Hamas, has gained increased attention following the assassination of several of his colleagues by “Israel” and his assuming of numerous key roles.

Recently, both Israeli and international media have spotlighted Jabareen, calling him a "rising power" for his leadership on critical issues within the Palestinian Resistance Movement.

Israeli sources are calling for Jabareen's assassination amid the ongoing devastating Israeli aggression on Gaza since October 2023.

Who Is He?

Born in 1968 in Salfit, northern West Bank, Jabareen studied Islamic law at An-Najah University in Nablus.

He joined Hamas in 1987, the same year it was founded, and is considered one of the founders of its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

According to a report by Israel Hayom in August 2024, Jabareen drafted Hamas's first statement in the West Bank and oversaw its publication and distribution.

During the First Intifada in the same year, while still a university student, he recruited several students into Hamas's “shooting teams” and was responsible for distributing the movement's pamphlets in the West Bank.

In a previous interview with the local newspaper Falastin, he mentioned that one of his early resistance acts was graffitiing anti-occupation messages on walls.

Noticed for his resistance activities, Jabareen was arrested by Israeli forces during the First Intifada in 1987 and later released.

During the First Intifada, he was injured in his left leg by a bullet during a firefight with the Israeli military.

After his release, Jabareen resumed his activities, and Israeli security services accused him of being responsible for several military operations against “Tel Aviv” in the 1990s.

One major accusation was his alleged involvement in a group that captured and killed police officer Nissim Toledano in December 1992. Consequently, “Israel” re-arrested him in 1993, sentencing him to life imprisonment plus 35 years.

Security officials claim that even while in prison, Jabareen attempted to initiate attacks. He was later released in a prisoner exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011 and was exiled outside Palestine.

In an interview with Falastin newspaper, Jabareen revealed that to purchase weapons, one of his group members sold his car while another sold his wife’s jewelry.

Jabareen’s most significant contribution to Hamas during these years was recruiting Yahya Ayyash, the bomb-maker and resistance icon during the First Intifada, who learned how to make explosive devices. 

Jabareen, alongside Ayyash, fought against collaborators in the West Bank, similar to the current Hamas political bureau chief Yahya Sinwar's actions in Gaza.

While in prison, Jabareen studied Hebrew, earned a degree in political science, and was among Hamas members responsible for caring for prisoners.

He translated several books from Hebrew to Arabic and began writing a book titled "The Tale of Blood in the Veins of al-Qassam," which was published a year after his release in the Shalit deal.

Roles and Responsibilities

Upon regaining his freedom, Jabareen settled in Turkiye and quickly resumed active roles in Hamas, taking on senior leadership positions.

He began working with the Hamas deputy political bureau chief Saleh al-Arouri, who was assassinated by “Israel” on January 2, 2023, in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Over time, Jabareen grew close to al-Arouri and was eventually appointed Deputy Leader of Hamas in the West Bank in 2021, a position he will hold until 2025, as the movement holds elections every four years.

Following al-Arouri’s assassination, Jabareen succeeded him in managing the West Bank region for Hamas.

In addition to this role, Jabareen is also responsible for prisoner affairs within the movement and is a member of its political bureau.

He is viewed as one of Hamas's top officials and is “accused” by the Israeli Occupation authorities of having close ties with Iran and being a key contact with the Quds Force.

Israeli media reports that Jabareen has strengthened Hamas’s relations with Iran in recent years and has met with senior members of the Revolutionary Guard.

In collaboration with al-Arouri, he has managed numerous armed cells across the West Bank, according to Hebrew media.

In a speech following al-Arouri’s assassination, Jabareen called on "all our people in the West Bank, from all factions, to continue the revolution."

He repeatedly stated during the conflict that "there will be no prisoner exchanges as long as the war continues in Gaza."

Jabareen is involved in negotiations for a deal to end the Gaza conflict and facilitate a prisoner exchange.

In one of his recent speeches, he described "Palestinian detainees" in Israeli jails as "beams of light" and pledged to work for their release.

Al-Arouri had earlier commended Jabareen, stating, "The passage of time has not diminished his resolve; with God's will, he will continue to pursue the path of jihad."

Following the assassination of Saleh al-Arouri, Israel Hayom questioned whether Zahir Jabareen would be the next target.

‘The Treasurer’

In addition to his other roles, the Wall Street Journal described Jabareen as the primary financier of Hamas operations against “Israel.”

In a detailed report published on January 4, 2024, the newspaper stated that Jabareen “oversees a financial empire that the U.S. estimates is worth hundreds of millions of dollars and funds Hamas’s operations against Israel.”

When Jabareen “ran a Hamas cell in the 1980s, he borrowed cash from his mother to buy weapons.” Now he is the movement's CEO and, according to U.S. and Israeli officials, manages Hamas’s financial relations with Iran and “handles how Tehran gets cash to the Gaza Strip.”

He also manages a portfolio of companies that provides annual income for Hamas and oversees a network of private donors and businessmen investing in the Islamic movement, according to the newspaper.

The report claimed that the 55-year-old activist’s influence on Hamas’s finances is so significant that current and former U.S. and Israeli security officials believe he enabled the movement to fund weapons and pay fighters for the October 7 attacks.

According to the newspaper, citing current and former U.S. and Israeli security and financial officials, Jabareen has for years defied Western sanctions by utilizing financial systems in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, the UAE, Sudan, and more recently Turkiye, to establish companies and transfer funds to Gaza.

It is claimed that “under Jabareen’s leadership, Hamas’s financial office is based in Istanbul, where he holds stakes in several companies, including shares in a Turkish-listed real estate firm.”

American officials monitoring financial flows have reported that Jabareen maintained Hamas’s connection with Hezbollah in Lebanon by working with money changers there.

According to an investigation by Israeli internal security conducted in 2018, following the arrest of a Palestinian from the occupied territories in 1948, Jabareen provided hundreds of thousands of euros in cash to support al-Qassam Brigades activists in the West Bank.

In 2019, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Jabareen, later labeling him as the mastermind behind a "financial network that allowed Hamas to collect, invest, and launder substantial sums of money" from Turkiye.

The Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom described Jabareen as "Hamas’s finance minister" and "the architect of its economic empire" in a report on August 15, 2024. It cited Israeli and American intelligence sources, stating that Jabareen is primarily responsible for building Hamas’s economic strength with annual revenues estimated at $750 million, which has enabled the movement to bolster its military capabilities and build a large army.