Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Othman Saeed Bilal was born in Nablus on May 27, 1975. He studied the primary stage at Ibn Qutaiba Primary School, and the secondary stage at Ibn Talal Secondary School. He obtained his high school diploma while he was in the occupation prisons. During his imprisonment, he studied media and political science at Tel Aviv Open University, then switched to studying history, and obtained a bachelor’s degree from Al-Aqsa University in Gaza.
In his early youth, he became involved in the Islamic student movement, deeply influenced by the leader Yusuf al-Surkaji. He joined Hamas during the First Palestinian Intifada, carrying out the movement's activities in Nablus. He then joined the armed resistance in 1993, specifically the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, before joining the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades after connecting with the leader Abdul Nasser Issa. He declared himself ready for martyrdom.
He recruited new members for the Qassam Brigades, including Nassim Abu al-Rus and Jasser Samaro, who played a key role in activating the Qassam Brigades during the Second Intifada. He left his home and lived as a fugitive starting in February 1994, three months after his release from Israeli prisons. His cell operated an explosives lab on Amman Street in Nablus. He participated in planning several operations. He participated in a martyrdom operation in Ramat Gan, carried out by martyr Labib Azem on July 24, 1995.
This operation, coordinated with the leader Muhi al-Din al-Sharif, resulted in the deaths of six Israelis and injuries to thirty-five others. He also planned, with his group, a second operation in Ramat Eshkol, carried out by martyr Sufian Jabarin, which resulted in the deaths of five Israelis and injuries to one hundred others. This operation coincided with the twenty-sixth anniversary of the burning of Al-Aqsa Mosque. He was arrested a day before it was to be carried out, and the occupation forces were unable to uncover the operation thanks to his and Abdul Nasser Issa's steadfastness during interrogation. Among the resistance fighters who worked with him were martyrs Mahmoud Madani, Abdul Majid Doudin, and Fahim Dawabsheh.
He tried to free himself from the occupation prisons four times. The first was during his detention in the cells of Nablus prison at the beginning of his second arrest. The second was in Shatta prison in 1996, with the help of the leader Saleh Al-Arouri. The third was in 1997, in coordination with the leader Mahmoud Issa and with the participation of sixteen of the movement’s cadres in the occupation prisons, including: Majed Abu Qutaish, Musa Akari, Mahmoud Attoun, Abdul Nasser Issa, Ayman Abu Khalil, Marwan Abu Rumaila, and Ashraf Al-Wawi, where they dug a tunnel, but the occupation uncovered the operation before the tunnel was completed. There was a fourth attempt in Ashkelon prison in 2003 with the prisoners Muhammad Kamil (Al-Rashq) and Nizar Ramadan. The plan was to open the net in the upper section, jump to the roof of the interrogation center, and use a rope to get over the prison wall.
He suffered throughout his life, as the occupation forces first arrested him during his high school studies in 1993. He was subjected to harsh interrogation in the occupation's prisons for ninety-eight days. The occupation accused him at the time of participating in an operation that led to the killing of two soldiers in the military barracks on the roof of the Anabtawi building in the center of Nablus. However, he stood firm during the interrogation and denied his participation in the operation.
The occupation sentenced him to a full year in prison on charges of belonging to Hamas. He was then arrested again on August 19, 1995, and sentenced by the occupation to twenty-seven life sentences. The occupation prevented his release in the Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner exchange deal in 2011. His four brothers were also arrested, including his brother Mu'adh in 1997, who was sentenced by the occupation to twenty-six life sentences and twenty-five years, and his brother Ubadah, who was sentenced by the occupation to twenty-one life sentences and remained in captivity until the resistance released him in the Wafa al-Ahrar deal in 2011.
His brother Bakr was arrested by the occupation for many years, and the occupation also arrested his mother twice. His father died in 2006, and his brother Bakr died in 2017 without him being able to say goodbye to them. He was subjected to solitary confinement and denied visits for long periods. He was also subjected to continuous abuse after October 7th until the resistance was able to release him on February 27, 2025, as part of the seventh batch of the exchange deal that Hamas carried out with the occupation, within the framework of the ceasefire agreement reached by the two parties on January 15, 2025.
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