Emad was born on 19 June 1971[1] in the Jabalia Refugee Camp in the northern Gaza Strip, to a family who immigrated there after the 1948 war from the village of Barair (Arabic: برعير), near Al-Majdal,[2] where Ashkelon is today.

According to his brother, Emad noted in 1991, "The Israelis are after me and they will go on following me until I fight back and then I will die at their hands and, for this reason, I will go to paradise.

[4] On 24 November 1993, a Palestinian informant reported Akel's location to the Israel Defense Forces.

At the time of his death, journalist Robert Fisk called Akel "the most important Hamas activist ever shot dead by the Israeli army."

[6] The film was written by Hamas strongman Mahmoud al-Zahar and the interior minister, Fathi Hamad.