Born: 1990;

Place of Birth: Segev Shalom, Israel;

Gender: Male;

Nationality: Israeli;

General Info:
Mahmoud Maqdad, who was born to a Bedouin-Israeli mother and Gazan father, is married to a woman living in the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave, and divides his time between Segev Shalom (Shaqib al-Salam), in the Negev near Beersheba, and Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

Maqdad was recruited by Hamas, which took advantage of his ability to move between Israel and the Gaza Strip because his family was split between the two, and this made it easier for Hamas military wing to recruit him and hold face-to-face meetings with him in Gaza, while at the same time giving them unique and high-quality access to Israeli territory.

He was first recruited to gather intelligence on the Negev, and in recent months he was instructed and trained to carry out an explosive attack in Israel.

The investigation found that he agreed to act for Hamas as early as the end of 2019 and had collected intelligence on various sites in Israel, including providing the terror group information about the various locations of the Iron Dome missile defense system in Israel and other military-related sites.

During his last visit to Gaza, he underwent training by Hamas on how to assemble a bomb and was instructed to carry out a bomb-laying attack. Maqdad was also transferred money by the Hamas terrorist organization on several occasions.

When he reentered Israel in June, he purchased ammunition and began assembling the bomb as he had been instructed to while in Gaza.

At the same time, he began scouting locations to carry out an attack while in secret operational contact with his handler in the Strip, and chose a bus stop at the Bilu junction in central Israel.