Hamdi Quran (Arabic: حمدي قرعان) is a Palestinian militant and member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). He is best known for his role in the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi on 17 October 2001.
Background
Quran was born around 1974 and hails from Al-Bireh, a town adjacent to Ramallah in the West Bank. He became a member of the PFLP and its militant wing, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades (also known at the time as the "Red Eagle Brigades").
Assassination of Rehavam Ze'evi
On 17 October 2001, Quran was one of a four-man PFLP team that assassinated Rehavam Ze'evi, the founder of the right-wing Moledet party, at the Hyatt Hotel in Jerusalem. Ze'evi was the first Israeli minister to be assassinated in a political attack. The assassination was carried out in retaliation for Israel's killing of PFLP leader Abu Ali Mustafa in August 2001.
Legal proceedings and imprisonment
In 2002, Quran was sentenced by the Palestinian National Authority to 18 years in prison for the crime and was held in a Jericho prison under the supervision of British and American wardens, under an agreement brokered between U.S. President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
In early 2006, the newly elected Hamas government announced its intention to release Ze'evi's assassins. In response, on 14 March 2006, the Israel Defense Forces besieged the Jericho prison in an operation called "Bringing Home the Goods," taking Quran and five other security prisoners into Israeli custody. Quran was subsequently sentenced by an Israeli court to life imprisonment for the assassination, with an additional 100 years for other shootings and bombings against Israelis.
