Hamada Abu Shita (Jihadi Militant, Egypt)

• Full name: Ahmed Abdullah Hamdan Abu Shita
• Pseudonym: N/a
• Alternatives: N/a
• Location: Sinai
• Affiliation: fmr Assembly of Monotheism and Jihadi in the Sinai [JTJS]

Hamada Abu Shita (°ca 1978-1981) is a Bedouin who has long been involved in jihadi activities on the Sinai Peninsula. He joined the Assembly of Monotheism and Jihad in the Sinai [JTJS; Jama’at Tawhid wal-Jihad fi-Sina’a] in the early 2000s and was apparently involved in preparing the 2004 bombings against tourists in South Sinai.¹ Abu Shita was apprehended by security forces during a crackdown on the JTJS following the attacks.²

Abu Shita was released in the wake of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. He returned to militancy and became one of the most important jihadi operatives in the Sinai.³ Abu Shita was one of the commanders of the militants who attacked a bank and a police station in the summer of 2011.⁴ He was also linked to the August 2012 massacre of sixteen Egyptian soldiers near Rafah.⁵ Later that month, a court sentenced Abu Shita in absentia to death for his role in militancy on the peninsula.⁶

In September 2012, the Egyptian authorities arrested Abu Shita during a raid on his hideout in the village of Tawila.⁷ He was severely tortured in detention and reportedly lost his sight.⁸ Abu Shita subsequently went in hunger strike to protest the conditions of his detention.⁹ In March 2013, his brothers and their allies subsequently abducted seven members of the security forces in the Sinai in order to force the government into releasing him.¹⁰ Abu Shita was not released and remains incarcerated.