According to the IDF, though the claim is denied by the PRC, al-Qaisi was one of the masterminds of the 2011 southern Israel cross-border attacks in August 2011, in which eight Israelis were killed. Following this attack, the IDF killed the secretary general of the Popular Resistance Committees, Kamal al-Nirab, and al-Qaisi was appointed his successor. On January 14, 2012 an explosion at al-Qaisi's home, in Rafah killed one member of his family, Khalid al-Qaisi, and wounded five others. Zuhir al-Qaisi himself was not at home at the time.