❗️Senior Qassam commander Hassan Salameh in 'extremely critical' condition after being shot inside Israeli prison cell Prominent Palestinian prisoner and senior Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades commander Hassan Salameh is in "extremely critical" health after being shot nine times by Israeli occupation forces inside his prison cell, according to statements released on Monday by his fiancée, Palestinian writer Ghufran al-Zamil. The shooting assault occurred in late September, coinciding with a raid on Salameh's cell by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir who recorded himself issuing explicit execution threats against the shackled prisoner, telling the handcuffed prisoner, "I want to kill you. I want to execute you." Footage and reports released by the Palestinian Prisoners' Media Office confirm that Salameh was subjected to severe physical assault, live ammunition fire, deliberate medical neglect, and prolonged starvation, leaving him fighting for his life behind bars. Born in Gaza's Khan Yunis refugee camp to a family ethnically cleansed from Al-Khayma during the 1948 Nakba, Salameh was a prominent figure in the First Intifada before receiving military training abroad. Following the 1996 assassination of Hamas mastermind Yahya Ayyash, Salameh coordinated a wave of retaliatory operations in Jerusalem and Ashkelon, leading to his capture in Hebron that same year and a sentence of 48 life terms—the third-longest imposed on any Palestinian detainee. He is serving 48 life sentences for his alleged involvement in a series of 1996 Jerusalem and Ashkelon bus bombing operations. Salameh, who spent 13 consecutive years in solitary confinement prior to a mass 2012 hunger strike, remains one of the primary high-profile prisoners whose release Palestinian resistance factions have consistently demanded in exchange deals. Palestinian rights organizations and resistance leadership held the Israeli government fully responsible for Salameh's life, warning that the systematic execution attempts and torture inflicted on the nearly 10,000 Palestinians held in Israeli military prisons represent a dangerous escalation in Tel Aviv's abuses against political prisoners.