Ahmed Yassin

Ahmed Yassin (January 1, 1937 – March 22, 2004) was a spiritual leader of the militant Palestinian group Hamas. Yassin's birth date is in dispute. He claimed he was born 1/1/1938, however, his passport indicated 1/1/1937. To some he was a hero, to some he was a notorious member of a terrorist organization. He was also a symbolic figure for Palestinians to fight against Israel.

Yassin was born in al-Jura, British Mandate of Palestine. He helped create Hamas and became its spiritual leader in 1987. To other members of Hamas he was a hero but he was blamed by the Israeli government for planning suicide bombings and other attacks against Israel. He claimed that was the only way of fighting occupation. He was confined to a wheelchair because he was paralyzed since age 12, he was also nearly blind and could barely hear. He was very powerful and influential. He was assassinated in an airstrike in Gaza City by the Israeli Army after he left a mosque in Gaza in the early morning hours.