Imad Hassan Ibrahim Akel was born on June 19, 1971 in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. He came from a religious family who moved to the camp during the Nakba, but they were originally from the village of Burayr. His father worked at the Al-Shuhada mosque in the camp as a muezzin, and gave him the name Imad after the Muslim leader who defeated the Crusaders, Imad al-Din Zengi.
Imad was a bright student, ranking first in his high school upon graduation. He began to participate in resistance efforts as a high school student, serving as a young leader in the First Intifada. The following year he was arrested by the occupation forces under charges of being involved with Hamas, and served a year and a half in prison. Upon release, he joined the al-Qassam Brigades, where he quickly rose through the ranks and became liaison officer of the first group of Hamas' military wing. This group, known as The Martyrs Group, carried out multiple kinds of military operations against the occupation forces, but their primary focus was eliminating suspected traitors/collaborators. In 1991, when the occupation forces caught and tortured two members of the group, gaining information on the identities of the rest, Aql became the main target of the occupation forces.
Evading Israeli intelligence and capture, Akel moved from the Gaza Strip to the occupied West Bank in 1992. After settling in Jerusalem, he formed more groups for the al-Qassam Brigades in the West Bank and carried out multiple covert military operations. Eventually he made his way back to Gaza, but the occupation forces continued to pursue him. The Prime Minister of "Israel" at the time, Yitzhak Rabin, even got involved, contacting Akel’s family to bargain with them. Akel bravely responded by saying, "Rabin cannot prevent a young man who has decided to die.” He did not allow this to stop his operations against the occupation forces, and they in turn became relentless in their search for him, attacking every young man named Imad.
Akel continued his resistance efforts until his very last breath, claiming "I will remain in Palestine until I attain martyrdom and enter paradise. This is jihad, victory or martyrdom.” On November 24, 1993, he and his comrades were surrounded by 60 of the occupation's armored vehicles in the Shujaiya neighborhood. Despite being besieged, they refused to surrender, and exchanged fire with the occupation forces until their martyrdom. The memory of Imad Akel remains immortalized in the history of Palestinian resistance for his unwavering bravery and contributions to the cause.
