Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Hassan Yassin (Arabic: الشيخ أحمد إسماعيل حسن ياسين; June 1936 – 22 March 2004)[2] was a Palestinian politician and imam who founded Hamas[a] in 1987.

[9] In 2004, he was killed when an Israeli helicopter gunship fired a missile at him as he was being wheeled from Fajr prayer in Gaza City.

He and his entire family fled to Gaza, settling in al-Shati Camp after his village was ethnically cleansed[12] by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.

[14][15] Although Yassin applied to and attended Al-Azhar University in Cairo, he was unable to pursue his studies there due to his deteriorating health.

During this time, he began delivering weekly sermons after Friday prayers, drawing large crowds of people.

Headmaster Mohammad al-Shawa initially had reservations about Yassin, concerning the reception he would receive from the pupils due to his disability.

His teaching methods reportedly provoked mixed reactions among parents because he encouraged his students to attend the mosque an additional two times a week.

[18] In 1973, the Islamic charity Mujama al-Islamiya was established in Gaza by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and the organization was recognized by Israel in 1979.

[20] In 1987, during the First Intifada, Yassin co-founded Hamas with Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, originally calling it the "paramilitary wing" of the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood, and becoming its spiritual leader.

[21] In 1989, Yassin was arrested by Israel and sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering killings of alleged Palestinian collaborators.

Yassin was released in exchange for two Mossad agents who had been arrested by Jordanian authorities, on the condition that he refrained from continuing to call for suicide bombings against Israel.

He immediately repeated his calls for attacks on Israel, using tactics including suicide bombings, thus violating the condition of his release.

However, in July 2003, the truce unravelled after a Hamas suicide bombing of a Jerusalem bus killed 21 people the previous month.

Journalists sometimes visited his Gaza address and Yassin maintained a routine daily pattern of activity, including being wheeled every morning to a nearby mosque.

Reem Riyashi's suicide bombing at the Erez crossing on 14 January 2004, which killed four civilians, was believed by the Israeli military to have been directly ordered by Yassin.

[8][29] Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon characterized Yassin as the "mastermind of Palestinian terror" and a "mass murderer".

[11] The Israeli government repeatedly asserted that Yassin was responsible for a number of terrorist attacks, which targeted and killed civilians.

He supported armed resistance against Israel and asserted that Palestine is an Islamic land "consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgment Day" and that no Arab leader had the right to give up any part of this territory.

[39] Yassin on several occasions proposed long-term ceasefire agreements, or truces, so called Hudnas, in exchange for Israeli concessions.

While he was being wheeled out of an early morning prayer session in Gaza City,[42] an Israeli AH-64 Apache helicopter gunship fired Hellfire missiles at Yassin and both of his bodyguards.

[48] The United States explained that the draft resolution should have condemned Hamas explicitly following its sponsored suicide bombings in Ashdod the week before.

About 200,000 people took to the streets of the Gaza Strip for Yassin's funeral as Israeli forces declared a national alert.

"[50] Publicly addressing the "military wing" of Hamas, Rantisi suggested, "The door is open for you to strike all places, all the time and using all means.

In this capacity, Yassin personally gave his approval for the launching of Qassam rockets against Israeli cities, as well as for the numerous Hamas terrorist bombings and suicide operations.

In his public appearances and interviews, Yassin called repeatedly for a continuation of the 'armed struggle' against Israel, and for an intensification of the terrorist campaign against its citizens.

"[58] Shimon Peres, then leader of the Labour opposition, was critical of the assassination, suggesting that it "could lead to an escalation of terror".

[59][60] Jack Straw, then British Foreign Secretary, said: "All of us understand Israel's need to protect itself – and it is fully entitled to do that – against the terrorism which affects it, within international law.

"[61] The European Union's foreign policy head Javier Solana expressed concern that it might impede the peace process.

[63] According to his statement to the UN Security Council, The killing of Sheikh Yassin has escalated tensions in Gaza and the greater Middle East, and sets back our effort to resume progress towards peace.

Yassin was opposed to the existence of the State of Israel, and actively sought to undermine a two-state solution in the Middle East.