Pars Today – “Thabet Mirdawi,” who began resisting the Zionist regime’s occupation from a young age, is one of the military commanders of the Islamic Jihad Movement and a key member of the anti-occupation resistance in the West Bank. He was sentenced to 21 life terms.
“Thabet Mirdawi” is among the Palestinian prisoners with heavy sentences. He was released on January 25, 2025, during a prisoner exchange between Hamas and the Zionist regime as part of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
According to Pars Today, citing the Mehr News Agency, Thabet Mirdawi was born in 1976 in the city of Arrabah in Jenin. He joined the Islamic Jihad Movement at its inception and became one of the commanders of Saraya al-Quds, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, during the al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000.
According to al Jazeera, Mirdawi is married and has a son named Osama, but because he was constantly pursued by Zionists and forced to flee, he only saw his son when he was one year old. He completed his early education in schools in Arrabah in Jenin and obtained his high school diploma with honors while imprisoned in Zionist jails. He then enrolled in the Open University of al-Quds to study economics, but was unable to complete his studies.
With the outbreak of the Stone Intifada (First Intifada) in 1987, Thabet Mirdawi’s bravery caught the attention of the Fatah movement’s commanders, who recruited him for anti-Zionist resistance operations.
Thabet Mirdawi was first arrested in April 1994 for four years. During this time, he became acquainted with leaders of the Islamic Jihad Movement in prison and spent his entire sentence studying. He was released from Zionist prisons in 1998.
After the martyrdom of Anwar Hamran and Iyad Murdan, Thabet Mirdawi assumed command of Saraya al-Quds in Jenin, its refugee camps, and several villages.
The Zionist occupying regime classified Thabet Mirdawi as one of the most dangerous fugitives in the West Bank because he had carried out several major anti-Zionist military operations in 2001 and 2002. He was arrested again in April of that year.
Mirdawi participated in the Battle of Jenin, which was fought by resistance fighters against the occupying forces in 2002, and was shot twice during the battle.
The intelligence and espionage services of the Zionist regime always regarded Mirdawi as the military commander of the Quds Brigades in Jenin and the overseer of dozens of martyrdom-seeking operations in the region against Zionists.
After three years of detention in Zionist regime prisons on charges of commanding the al-Quds Brigades and planning and carrying out a series of martyrdom operations that resulted in the deaths and injuries of dozens of Zionists, he was sentenced to 21 life terms. Following his arrest, he became a political and ideological reference for Islamic Jihad prisoners and was a prominent member of all leadership bodies of the prisoners’ movement in the occupation regime’s prisons.
Thabet Mirdawi also wrote books, the most notable being a documentation of events in the Jenin refugee camp. Additionally, he managed to memorize the entire Quran. This long-time Palestinian prisoner spent extended periods in solitary confinement in Zionist jails, and in August 2014, the occupiers placed him in solitary confinement again, accusing him of digging a tunnel in Shatta prison in an attempt to escape.
The Zionist regime had refused to release Thabet Mirdawi in all prisoner exchanges with Hamas until he was finally freed on January 25, 2025.
MG/ME
