On April 6, the US State Department added Ahmed Ghandour, the commander of Hamas' Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades’ northern branch, to its list of terrorists for his involvement in various armed operations, including taking Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit captive in the Gaza Strip in June 2006. Palestinians know Ghandour as one of the most hard-line commanders in the al-Qassam Brigades and as overseeing the battle against an Israeli incursion into northern Gaza in October 2004 that lasted three weeks and led to 130 Palestinian deaths.

Ghandour, aka Abu Anas, is a member of al-Qassam Brigades’ Supreme Military Council. He is considered the right hand of Hamas' military commander Mohammed al-Deif. He survived Israeli assassination attempts in 2002 and 2012. Israeli aircraft have targeted his home several times, most recently on July 9, 2014, during the war on Gaza. He was detained by Israel between 1988 and 1994 and then held by the Palestinian Authority (PA) from 1995 to 2000. The PA released him after the outbreak of the second intifada in September 2000. Why the United States chose to designate Ghandour a “specially designated global terrorist” at this particular time is unknown, but it comes at a time when Hamas is preparing to issue a new policy document in which the movement is expected to adopt more pragmatic positions.

Hamas issued a statement April 6 calling the US decision unethical, a violation of international law and inciting Israeli terrorism against Palestinians. Amid Hamas spokespersons commenting on the decision, the movement organized a sit-in in solidarity with Ghandour in front of his house in the Jabaliya refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip. Supporters raised banners proclaiming that resistance is not terrorism.

Hazem Qassem, the Hamas spokesman in Gaza, told Al-Monitor, “The US decision against Ghandour will not affect the legitimacy of the Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation. [The resistance] is legitimate in virtue of international and humanitarian laws and norms. The Israeli enemy and its leadership are the ones that should be placed on the terror blacklist for committing massacres against our people. Such US decisions will not intimidate Hamas and its leaders, nor will they break the will of the Palestinian people. Hamas will continue to resist until Palestine is liberated and the rights of our people are restored.”