Ismail Abu Shanab (Arabic: إسماعيل أبو شنب; 1950 – 21 August 2003) was a Palestinian engineer and one of the founders of Hamas.
[5] Shanab graduated from high school in 1966 and was accepted at then newly opened Bir Zeit University in the West Bank.
[5][6] After working four years in Gaza city, Shanab went to the US and obtained a master of science degree in civil engineering from Colorado State University.
[7] In November 1998, Palestinian police arrested Shanab and other top Hamas leaders, including Mahmud Zahar, Ismail Haniyya, and Ahmed Baher.
[10] The security forces of the Palestinian Authority arrested and detained the Hamas leaders, including Shanab, Abdulaziz Rantisi, and Mohammad Namer Hamdan, without any charge on 6 August 1999.
[5] The ceasefire (hudna in Arabic) was unilateral[16] Shanab was the third-in-command in Hamas, behind Abdulaziz Rantisi and Mahmud Zahar and in front of Ismail Haniya before his assassination in August 2003.
"[18] Although he did not advocate for suicide bombing attacks, which he called a primitive weapon, he stated "But, it’s all we have and it’s less harmful than F-16s loaded with tons of explosives.
[9] On 21 August 2003, Shanab and his two bodyguards were hit and killed by an Israeli helicopter missile strike while travelling by a car in Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City.
[5][23] The assassination occurred in retaliation for the suicide bombing of a Jerusalem bus on 19 August 2003, killing twenty mostly orthodox Jews, including six children.
[24] The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement after the assassination and described Shanab as a senior terrorist and Hamas operative.