Ismail Haniyeh, a prime chief of the designated Palestinian terrorist group Hamas who was killed in Tehran on July 31, was a controversial determine whose loss of life may escalate tensions within the Center East and derail negotiations to finish Israel’s struggle within the Gaza Strip.
Haniyeh was the political chief of Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist group by the USA and the European Union. Based mostly in Qatar, he had performed a key function in internationally brokered talks on reaching a cease-fire in Gaza.
A U.S.-designated terrorist, Haniyeh was thought of a relative average throughout the group.
Flash Evaluation: The Killing Of Ismail Haniyeh
The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in a complicated northern Tehran neighborhood — just a few hours after the focused killing of a prime Lebanese Hizballah commander in Beirut — is a serious embarrassment for the Islamic republic and its safety providers. As not too long ago as July 30, the Hamas chief had met with Iran’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He was then given a hero’s welcome in parliament throughout new President Masud Pezeshkian’s inauguration ceremony, wherein representatives of different Iranian proxy teams within the area have been current.
Haniyeh’s assassination additionally, in impact, eliminates the potential for a hostage deal between Hamas and Israel within the close to future, prolonging the struggle in Gaza, and dramatically rising the chance of a wider battle within the area.
In a swift response, Khamenei promised “extreme punishment” for Israel, saying revenge was a “responsibility.” The final time Khamenei used such language was in April when the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps launched tons of of drones and missiles at Israel following the assassination of a prime Iranian common in Iran’s consulate in Damascus.
A army response by Tehran at this stage appears sure, however the problem for Khamenei and Iran’s proxies is to calibrate it to keep away from an all-out struggle, one thing the Islamic republic doesn’t need at this level.
— Kambiz Fattahi, director of RFE/RL’s Radio Farda
Hamas’s army wing is led by Yahya Sinwar, the chief primarily based in Gaza who is taken into account the mastermind of the group’s assault inside Israeli territory on October 7 that killed greater than 1,200 folks and sparked Israel’s retaliatory invasion of the Palestinian enclave later that month.
Haniyeh, who was born in a Palestinian refugee camp, died on the age of 62. No state or group has claimed duty for his killing, though Tehran has blamed Israel and vowed revenge. Whereas Israel has not commented on the incident, Haniyeh had been excessive on Israel’s hit listing for the reason that October assault.
Greater than 39,000 folks have been killed in Gaza, in response to Palestinian well being officers within the territory, as worldwide requires a cease-fire have gone unanswered.
Haniyeh, who would have been a prime voice in any peace negotiations, was in Tehran to attend the inauguration of Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian, who was sworn in on July 30. The 2 leaders have been pictured collectively in the course of the go to in images launched by Pezeshkian’s workplace.
Haniyeh was born within the Al-Shati refugee camp west of Gaza Metropolis. His household is initially from an space that’s now the Israeli port of Ashkelon, north of the Gaza Strip. The household fled the world in the course of the 1948 Arab-Israeli Struggle and moved to Gaza.
Haniyeh joined Hamas as a college scholar shortly after it was based in 1987 after the start of the First Intifada, which protested Israel’s occupation of the West Financial institution, Gaza, and East Jerusalem.
That yr, Haniyeh was arrested and briefly jailed for collaborating in anti-Israel protests. He additionally graduated in 1987 with a level in Arabic literature from the Islamic College of Gaza.
In 1988, Haniyeh was arrested once more and jailed for six months, and in 1989 he was sentenced to 3 years in jail attributable to his involvement with Hamas.
After his launch in 1992, Haniyeh was amongst tons of of Hamas members and supporters who have been exiled to southern Lebanon. Haniyeh spent a yr on the Marj al-Zahour camp earlier than returning to Gaza to change into a dean at his alma mater, the Islamic College of Gaza.
When Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin was launched from an Israeli jail in 1997, Haniyeh was tapped to go his workplace and the 2 developed a detailed relationship. Haniyeh’s prominence inside Hamas rose rapidly and he was chosen to signify the group within the Palestinian Authority, which runs a part of the West Financial institution.
Haniyeh and Yassin narrowly escaped an Israeli air strike in September 2003 that focused their residence in Gaza Metropolis. Yassin was killed six months later by an Israeli air strike.
Within the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, Haniyeh headed the listing of Hamas candidates.
Beneath the slogan “change and reform,” 76 out of 132 parliamentary seats went to Hamas.
With a majority secured, newly nominated Prime Minister Haniyeh set about forming a authorities.
A number of weeks of negotiations to kind a coalition authorities between Hamas, its essential rival Fatah, and different Palestinian teams failed — largely attributable to Hamas’s refusal to simply accept circumstances set out by the USA, Russia, United Nations, and European Union, which included recognition of the state of Israel.
Shortly after its landslide victory, Hamas stated it will not again down from its purpose of changing Israel with an Islamic state and indicated that it will resist negotiations to resolve the long-standing battle with Israel.
Haniyeh ultimately shaped a authorities made up largely of Hamas members and technocrats.
In presenting his authorities’s plan, Haniyeh additionally referred to as on the USA and Europe to not perform their threats to halt support to the Hamas-led authorities except it acknowledged Israel, renounced violence, and abided by agreements underneath earlier Israeli-Palestinian agreements aimed toward a two-state resolution.
Haniyeh stated that he thought of the continuation of the Palestinians’ battle for independence to be a “legit proper.” He additionally expressed openness to have interaction in talks with worldwide negotiators to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian battle.
“Our authorities will spare no effort to attain a simply peace within the area, finish the occupation, and restore our rights,” he stated, though Hamas remained steadfast in its refusal to acknowledge the state of Israel.
In June 2007, open violence broke out between Hamas and Fatah, and Hamas took full management of the Gaza Strip. Shortly afterward, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led authorities.
The inner conflicts among the many Palestinian teams led to the de facto division of management of the Palestinian territories, with the West Financial institution managed by the Palestinian Nationwide Authority and Hamas accountable for the Gaza Strip.
Israel, which had pulled its forces out of the Gaza strip two years earlier, imposed a land, sea, and air blockade on the Hamas-controlled territory that’s nonetheless in impact.
In 2011, the USA requested that Qatar present a headquarters for Hamas’s political management to facilitate communications. Haniyeh moved to Doha in 2016 and the following yr changed Khaled Mashal as the pinnacle of Hamas’s political workplace.
The U.S. State Division added Haniyeh to its listing of Specifically Designated World Terrorists, a classification Washington stated focused terrorist teams and leaders who threaten the steadiness of the Center East.
The State Division famous that Hamas had been designated a International Terrorist Group in 1997 and added to the listing of Specifically Designated World Terrorists in 2001.
In extending the terrorist designation to Haniyeh himself, the State Division defined: “Haniyeh has shut hyperlinks with Hamas’ army wing and has been a proponent of armed battle, together with towards civilians. He has reportedly been concerned in terrorist assaults towards Israeli residents. Hamas has been liable for an estimated 17 American lives killed in terrorist assaults.”
Following the lethal shock assault by Hamas on Israeli cities and cities on October 7, Haniyeh and different Hamas leaders appeared in a video wherein they thanked God for the assault’s success.
Three of Haniyeh’s sons — Hazem, Amir, and Haniyeh — have reportedly been killed by Israeli air strikes towards the Gaza Strip for the reason that Israel-Hamas struggle started.
Haniyeh is survived by his spouse and cousin, Amal Haniyeh, with whom he had 13 youngsters, together with eight sons and 5 daughters.