Zaher Jabarin (Arabic: زاهر جبارين - Hebrew: זאהר ג'בארין - born 18 September 1968)[1][2] is Palestinian politician in exile and member of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).[3] He is the head of the Office of Martyrs, Wounded, and Prisoners,[4] and financial administrator in the Hamas Movement. He has led the Hamas Financial Bureau since the mid-2010s, managing the group's investment portfolio estimated at over $500 million. The financial network Jabarin oversees raises, invests, and launders money destined for Hamas militant activities in the West Bank and Gaza via networks in Turkey, Lebanon, and the Arabian Gulf.
With Saleh al-Arouri, Jabarin was one of the co-founders of Hamas' military wing in the West Bank in the late 1980s. In 1993, Jabarin was arrested and an Israeli court sentenced him to life imprisonment plus 35 years for killing Israelis during the First Intifada. He was responsible for attacks that killed Israeli soldiers and police.
Jabarin was released as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange in 2011, after which he assumed leadership of the Hamas Financial Bureau from his base in Istanbul, Turkey. He was also head of the Office of Martyrs, Wounded, and Prisoners for Hamas.
During the Israel-Hamas war, after al-Arouri was killed in Dahieh on 2 January 2024, Jabarin succeeded him a Hamas' leader in the West Bank. Jabarin was allegedly responsible for the resumption of Hamas' planning and incitement of suicide bombings in 48-Israel and the West Bank, including the Lehi Street bombing in Tel Aviv on 18 August 2024, as the group's capabilities in Gaza diminished and Hamas leaders were assassinated. Suicide bombings were a controversial tactic that had not been used by Hamas for many years, and that other members of the movement preferred to avoid.
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