From a young age, Abu Shujaa was involved in resistance activities against the Israeli occupation, leading to his first arrest at 17.
The Israeli occupation army announced on Thursday that Mohammed Jaber Abu Shujaa had been killed, along with four other battalion members, during a large-scale military operation in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm.
Jaber, also known by his nom the guerre Abu Shujaa was a key figure and the commander of the Tulkarm Battalion affiliated with the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement.
Abu Shujaa was one of its founders alongside its first commander, Saif Abu Libdeh.
Birth and Background
Abu Shujaa was born in 1998 in the Nur Shams camp, located in the Tulkarm Governorate. His family, originally from Haifa, was displaced during the 1948 Nakba. He grew up in the camp, the middle child among five siblings.
Abu Shujaa attended school in the Nur Shams camp but was forced to abandon his studies due to difficult circumstances.
From a young age, Abu Shujaa was involved in resistance activities against the Israeli occupation, leading to his first arrest at 17.
He was subsequently arrested two more times, spending about five years in Israeli prisons. Additionally, he was detained twice by the Palestinian Authority’s security services.
Palestinian Commander Abu Shujaa Killed in Tulkarm – Israeli Operation in West Bank Intensifies
Tulkarm Battalion
In March 2022, Abu Shujaa co-founded the Tulkarm Battalion with its first commander, Saif Abu Labdeh, and a group of young men from the Tulkarm and Ain Shams camps.
After Abu Labdeh was killed on April 2 of the same year, Abu Shujaa assumed command. Under his leadership, the battalion grew to include around 40 fighters by September 2022.
The Tulkarm Battalion is affiliated with the Al-Quds Brigades but includes members from various Palestinian factions. In February 2023, it integrated the Rapid Response Group, a faction founded by resistance fighter Amir Abu Khadija, which operates under the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of Fatah.
The battalion maintained strong coordination with other resistance groups in Nablus, Jenin, and beyond.
Although based in the Nur Shams camp, it carried out operations across the West Bank, targeting Israeli soldiers at checkpoints and resisting incursions into Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps. The battalion also focused on developing combat techniques, manufacturing explosives, and establishing logistical support units.
Targeting and Persecution
The Israeli occupation classified Abu Shujaa as a major threat in the northern West Bank.
He was the target of numerous assassination attempts by Israel and was also pursued by the Palestinian Authority’s security forces.
Between April and May 2024, two members of his battalion, Moatasem Khaled Al-Aref and Ahmed Abu Al-Foul, were killed by Palestinian Authority forces.
Abu Shujaa’s family was also targeted; his brother Mahmoud was killed during an Israeli raid on Nur Shams camp, and his older brother Oday was repeatedly arrested, along with his younger brother Ahmed.
The occupation forces demolished the family’s home, forcing them to seek refuge with neighbors and relatives during each raid.
False Reports of His Death
On April 19, 2024, the Israeli military announced that Abu Shujaa had been killed in a raid on a house in Nur Shams camp, where he was reportedly holed up with other fighters.
The operation, involving the Israeli Internal Security Service, Shabak, and the Border Guard, resulted in heavy clashes.
While the mosques of Tulkarm mourned his death, and his father confirmed reports of his martyrdom, the Tulkarm Battalion denied these claims.
Two days later, Abu Shujaa appeared publicly, holding his rifle at a funeral procession for fallen comrades in Tulkarm, directly challenging the Israeli claim of his death.
“Our message to the occupation is that we are defiant, following the path of the martyrs, and our struggle will continue until victory,” he told reporters on that day, also calling on all honorable people to stand by the resistance.
‘Nafir’
On July 26, 2024, Palestinian crowds rescued Abu Shujaa from Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital in Tulkarm after the Palestinian Authority’s security forces attempted to arrest him while he was being treated for injuries from an explosion during bomb-making.
In Dramatic Scene – Palestinians Free Fighter Besieged by PA Police in West Bank (VIDEOS)
When the news emerged that Abu Shujaa, and possibly others, were besieged by PA security forces in the hospital, Palestinian groups, including the military arm of the Fatah movement declared nafir, an Arabic word indicating popular mobilization.
Armed clashes erupted between resistance fighters and PA forces, who used tear gas to disperse the crowd of civilians.
Last Message
On August 16, the Lebanese news network Al-Mayadeen published an exclusive interview with Abu Shujaa, who sent a message to the people of Gaza.
“We learn patience and resistance from the sons and fighters of Gaza and draw high morale from them,” Abu Shujaa said.
“The Resistance remains as brilliant and valiant across all battlefields against the occupation ten months into the war, despite the Israeli criminality that continues to target civilians, women, and children,” he said, in reference to the massacre against Palestinian civilians in Tabaeen School, on August 10.
The Israeli occupation army announced on Thursday that Mohammed Jaber Abu Shujaa had been killed, along with four other battalion members, during a large-scale military operation in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm.
Jaber, also known by his nom the guerre Abu Shujaa was a… pic.twitter.com/arEyCajQAx
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) August 29, 2024
“You are the people of fortitude and resolution, who have proven to the whole world that Gaza’s people can eradicate Israel”, Abu Shujaa said, calling on the Resistance leaders not to give up in their struggle for freedom.
“If the enemy assassinates me, we will continue,” he said.
“The struggle does not end with one person, there are generations that rise to defend our rights, and the biggest indicator is the martyrdom of a Palestinian and more in each home in Tulkarm, and the Resistance continues,” he concluded.
(PC, AJA)
Palestinian resistance is no different to the French resistance against Nazi occupation and yet, where they were hailed as heroes, Palestinian resistance fighters are condemned as terrorists. What arrant hypocrisy when Israel itself was created out of terrorism. But, of course, that was ‘kosher’ terrorism!
The PA appears as traitors or Judases of the Resistance. Abu Shujaa is a real martyr of this revolution. May Allah always bless his soul and his beloved Palestine.
I am heart broken again. I so admire the audacity, determination, and bravery of Palestinian resistance fighters. They are up against a monster that is fueled to the teeth with weapons of mass destruction from my government. I place these brothers in high, high regards. They are akin to my ancestors, Nat Turner, Jemmy Cato, Denmark Vesey, Harriet Tubman and others, who led slave rebellions.