A top Hamas leader shot himself in the head on Tuesday and is now currently in critical condition.
According to Hamas’ spokesman, Imad al-Alami, one of the founders of the terror organization, was “inspecting his” firearm and it accidentally discharged. However, Ynet News is claiming that it’s possible that al-Alami’s gunshot wound stemmed from a suicide attempt following a cancer diagnosis or an assassination attempt.
Regardless, Al-Alami has been treated at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza for the gunshot wound. Ynet is reporting that al-Alami is “likely dead” from the wound.
Al-Alami is infamous for avoiding media attention and doesn’t have any social media accounts. His record of terrorism includes being arrested by Israeli authorities for incitement in 1988 and having close ties with the Iranian regime and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Consequently, al-Alami is one of six Hamas members designated as terrorists by the State Department as terrorists and had his financial assets frozen by the British government.
The senior Hamas leader mostly worked out of Syria until 2012; he suffered from leg injuries under mysterious circumstances during the 2014 Israel-Hamas conflict and was reportedly chosen to lead Hamas in Gaza in November 2016.
Prior to al-Alami’s gunshot wound, there have been other reported instances of Hamas terrorists being injured or killed from accidental gunshot wounds, explosions or tunnel collapses.