Omar Asida Ahmad Ayoub

A senior member of Hamas’s West Bank command in the Gaza Strip. Responsible for directing Hamas’s terrorist activities in the Nablus area. He was a member of a cell that carried out a shooting attack in the West Bank, in which 78-year-old Atela Lipovsky was killed and two others were injured. He was arrested on April 10, 2002, and convicted of murder committed in an act of hostility; military training; attempted murder – act of hostility; and conspiracy to commit a crime. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment plus ten additional years. He was released in 2011 as part of the Shalit deal, deported to the Gaza Strip, where he continued terrorist activity as part of Hamas’s command responsible for the West Bank areas. He was re-arrested on March 21, 2024, during the military campaign in the Gaza Strip. He was released on October 13, 2025, after about a year in prison, as part of the deal for the release of the living hostages from the Gaza Strip. Under the terms of the deal, he was permanently expelled from the West Bank.