After an attack by Hamas militants on an Israeli tank in February 2003, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) demolished Ghandour's house in the Sheik Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City.
[3][5] In this role, he was the senior Hamas battlefield commander during the 2004 Israeli operation in the northern Gaza Strip and was involved in leading a number of operations including the 2006 Gaza cross-border raid that led to the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
[3] According to the United States government, Ghandour was part of the Hamas Shura Council and Political Bureau.
[2] By 2017, he was a member of the General Military Council of the brigades and was considered to be a close confidant of Mohammed Deif.
In response, Hamas called the U.S. move "unethical" and held a solidarity sit-in at Ghandour's house in the Jabaliya refugee camp.