# How many high ranking officials from groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, PIJ, etc **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-high-ranking-officials-from-groups-like-hamas-hezbollah-pij-etc/1006830 "2024-09-05T20:30:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-high-ranking-officials-from-groups-like-hamas-hezbollah-pij-etc/1006830/1 "2024-09-05T20:30:28Z")
How many high ranking leaders have been killed? I’ve seen news stories saying ‘commander so and so was killed’ but is there a running list? It was my understanding the actual leader of Hamas was killed in the last few months and replaced. But not only that, I thought the actual military head of Hamas was killed. As were 3 of the 5 military division heads have been killed so far. As far as Hezbollah, I have seen stories about various commanders being killed in Lebanon, but I have no idea what their structure is. So how does the organizational structure of groups like PIJ, Hamas, Hezbollah, etc work and how many have been killed so far? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-high-ranking-officials-from-groups-like-hamas-hezbollah-pij-etc/1006830/2 "2024-09-06T02:32:08Z")
I did find this > **[Al-Qassam Brigades](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qassam_Brigades#Leaders_killed_by_Israel_or_other_causes)** > > Hamas as a whole: > The Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades (EQB;\[note 1\] Arabic: كتائب الشهيد عز الدين القسام, romanized: Katāib al-Shahīd 'izz al-Dīn al-Qassām, lit. 'Battalions of martyr Izz ad-Din Al-Qassam'), named after Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, is the military wing of the Palestinian nationalist organization Hamas. Led by Mohammed Deif until his presumed death on 13 July 2024, EQB is the largest and best-equipped militia operating within Gaza today. > Created in mid-1991, it was at the time concerned... > Hamas confirmed in November 2023 that Israeli airstrikes had killed Ahmed Ghandour, the commander of the Al-Qassam Brigade in northern Gaza; Ayman Siam, head of the rocket-firing unit; and Fursan Khalifa, a senior commander in the West Bank, as well as Ghandour’s deputy Wael Rajab.[122] > > Marwan Issa, deputy leader of the Al-Qassam Brigades and second-in-command to Mohammed Deif, was reported to have been killed by Israeli forces on 10 March 2024.[123] The wiki article also claims the leader and deputy leader of the Al-Qassam Brigades have been killed. [https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-army-claims-to-have-killed-al-qassam-s-khan-younis-brigade-commander/3275414](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-army-claims-to-have-killed-al-qassam-s-khan-younis-brigade-commander/3275414) > “Warplanes attacked yesterday and killed, based on intelligence information, Rafa’a Salameh, commander of the Khan Younis Brigade in Hamas,” the military said in a statement on X. Also Israel killed the leader of Hamas in July > **[Hamas' top political leader is killed in Iran in strike that risks triggering...](https://apnews.com/article/iran-hamas-israel-30968a7acb31cd8b259de9650014b779)** > > Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel "will exact a heavy price from any aggression against us on any front.” ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-high-ranking-officials-from-groups-like-hamas-hezbollah-pij-etc/1006830/3 "2024-09-06T02:36:55Z")
> **[Israel says top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr killed in airstrike in Beirut...](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lebanon-israel-strikes-hezbollah-commander-beirut-suburb/)** > > The Israeli military says it killed Fuad Shukr, a Hezbollah commander accused of being behind a deadly rocket strike in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. > The Israeli military on Tuesday said it killed Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s most senior military commander, in a rare strike in Beirut, raising the stakes in the escalating tensions with the Lebanese militant group. Israeli officials said the militant commander was behind [the deaths of 12 children and teens](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/golan-heights-rocket-attack-israel-hezbollah/) in a weekend rocket attack on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights as well as the deaths of numerous Israeli civilians in previous rocket strikes on northern Israel. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-high-ranking-officials-from-groups-like-hamas-hezbollah-pij-etc/1006830/4 "2024-09-06T02:45:40Z")
It was pretty much a running joke during the war on terror that the role of second in command of Al Qaida was a temporary position as they kept getting offed by the US. The logic being the head of Al Qaida was a figurehead who can hide out in a cave (or it turns out a villa in Pakistan) whereas the second in command actually has to do stuff which causes him to interact with people and be identified, hence has a very short life expectancy. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-high-ranking-officials-from-groups-like-hamas-hezbollah-pij-etc/1006830/5 "2024-09-06T02:51:14Z")
> **[Who was Mohammad Reza Zahedi, an Iranian general killed by Israel in Syria?](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/2/who-was-mohammad-reza-zahedi-the-iranian-general-assassinated-by-israel#)** > > Zahedi was the highest ranking commander to be killed since Major General Qassem Soleimani died in 2020 US drone strike. > **Tehran, Iran –** Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has been [assassinated by Israel in Syria](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/1/several-killed-in-israeli-strike-on-iranian-consulate-in-damascus-reports). > **[Israeli air strike in Syria kills top Iranian military adviser](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/25/israeli-air-strike-in-syria-kills-top-iranian-general)** > > Sayyed Razi Mousavi was responsible for coordinating the military alliance between Syria and Iran. > Israeli air strike in Syria kills top Iranian military adviser > He was responsible for coordinating the military alliance between Syria and Iran, an important part of Iran’s regional network of allies and [proxies](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/25/hezbollah-hamas-islamic-jihad-chiefs-discuss-route-to-victory-on-israel) known as the “Axis of Resistance”. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2024, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-high-ranking-officials-from-groups-like-hamas-hezbollah-pij-etc/1006830/6 "2024-10-17T19:41:36Z")
Israel has been busy. Sinwar, head of Hamas is dead. Nasrallah, head of Hezbollah is dead. So was the guy meant to replace him. So was the guy meant to replace that guy too. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2024, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-high-ranking-officials-from-groups-like-hamas-hezbollah-pij-etc/1006830/7 "2024-10-17T19:51:32Z")
> **[Who were the 7 high-ranking Hezbollah officials killed over the past week?](https://apnews.com/article/hezbollah-lebanon-nasrallah-israel-8b2ae56a54d641c6910a79e9e5699824)** > > Intensified Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed seven high-ranking commanders and officials from the powerful Hezbollah militant group, including Hassan Nasrallah.