Mahmoud Bakr Hijazi
Mahmoud Bakr Hijazi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Native name | محمود بكر حجازي |
| Born | 1936 Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine |
| Died | March 22, 2021 Ramallah, State of Palestine |
| Allegiance |  Fatah Palestine Liberation Organization |
Mahmoud Bakr Hijazi (Arabic: محمود بكر حجازي) was a Palestinian militant and one of the earliest guerrilla fighters of Fatah. In 1965, he became the first Fatah member to be captured by Israel. He was released on April 17, 1971 following a prisoner exchange between Israel and Fatah. April 17 was chosen by the Palestinian National Council as Palestinian Prisoner's Day in 1974 to commemorate Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel without charge to be released.[1]
Biography
Mahmoud Bakr Hijazi was born in Jerusalem in 1936 when the city was under British rule. He had six children, including three males and three females.[2][3]
On January 17, 1965, Hijazi and six other Fatah guerrillas used explosives to destroy a highway bridge and blow up the Nehusha Water Institute near Beit Jibrin in the Hebron district, which Israeli forces were using as a main passageway. Following this, he secured the retreat of his fellow guerrillas and fended off Israeli troops that had surrounded him. Hijazi killed 20 Israeli soldiers before being wounded and captured.[4][2]
Hijazi was incarcerated in Ayalon Prison in Ramla and was sentenced to death, but his death sentence eventually turned to a 30-year prison sentence. The Israel Prison Service allegedly attempted to assassinate him on numerous occasions through food poisoning.[2] On April 17, 1971, Hijazi was released to Lebanon in exchange for a 59-year-old Israeli nightwatchman named Shmuel Rozenvasser that had been captured by Fatah on January 1, 1970.[1][5] The date of his release was set as Palestinian Prisoner's Day in 1974 by the Palestinian National Council.[1]
Hijazi died due to an illness on March 22, 2021.[3]
References
- ^ a b c "Palestinian Prisoner's Day: How many are still in Israeli detention?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
- ^ a b c "28 فبراير ذكرى تحرير الأسير الأول لحركة فتح محمود بكر حجازي". Archived from the original on 2018-10-09. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
- ^ a b "رحيل اللواء محمود بكر حجازي... أول أسير للثورة الفلسطينية". The New Arab. 22 March 2021.
- ^ Service, United States Foreign Broadcast Information (1971). Daily Report: People's Republic of China. National Technical Information Service. p. 19.
- ^ "A brief history of Palestinian prisoners releases". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2013-04-24. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
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