Wael Zwaiter

Wael Zwaiter (Arabic: وائل زعيتر‎‎; 2 January 1934 – 16 October 1972) was a Palestinian translator, assassinated as the first target of Israel's Operation Wrath of God campaign following the 1972 Munich massacre. Israel considered Zwaiter a terrorist for his role in the Black September group, while his supporters argue that he was "never conclusively linked" with Black September or the Munich massacre and was killed in retribution.

Zwaiter was born in Nablus in 1934, the son of Adel Zu'aiter. He went to Iraq and studied Arabic Literature and philosophy at the University of Baghdad. Zwaiter moved then to Libya and afterwards to Rome, where he was a PLO representative and worked as a translator for the Libyan embassy. In addition to his native Arabic, Zwaiter spoke French, Italian, and English. During his time in Italy, Zwaiter was in the process of translating One Thousand and One Nights from Arabic into Italian, but according to Emily Jacir, he never completed this.

Zwaiter was held for questioning by Italian police in August 1972 in relation to a bombing by the group Black September against an oil refinery, but was later released. The Israeli Mossad suspected him of being the head of Black September in Rome, and put him on an assassination list after Black September's attack in Munich. When he returned to his apartment building on the night of 16 October 1972, he was killed by two Israeli agents who shot him 11 times.

At the time of the incident, Zwaiter served as the PLO representative in Italy. Israel privately alleged that he was a member of the Black September organization and implicated in a foiled attempt against an El Al airliner. However, PLO members have consistently denied these claims, asserting that Zwaiter had no involvement. Abu Iyad, the deputy chief of the PLO, further emphasized that Zwaiter was actively opposed to political violence.