Sunday, August 4, 2024

Ismail Haniyeh, Palestinian Politician

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Haniyeh, Ismail

Ismail Abd al-Salam Ahmad Haniyeh (b. 1962 or 1963, Al-Shati refugee camp, Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip – d. July 31, 2024, Tehran, Iran) was a Palestinian politician who served as chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from May 2017 until his assassination on July 2024. He also served as prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority from March 2006 until June 2014 and Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip from June 2007 until February 2017, where he was succeeded by Yahya Sinwar. He was regarded as one of the most prominent leaders of Hamas since the death of Ahmed Yassin.

Haniyeh was born in 1962 0r 1963 in the al-Shati refugee camp in the then Egyptian controlled Gaza Strip to parents who were expelled or fled from Al-Jura (now part of Ashkelon) during the 1948 Palestine War. He earned a bachelor's degree in Arabic literature from the Islamic University of Gaza in 1987, where he first became involved with the militant group Hamas, which was formed during the First Intifada against the Israeli occupation. His involvement led to his imprisonment for three short periods after participating in protests. After his release in 1992, he was exiled to Lebanon, returning a year later to become a dean at Gaza's Islamic University. Haniyeh was appointed to head a Hamas office in 1997 and subsequently rose in the ranks of the organization.

Haniyeh was head of the Hamas list that won the Palestinian legislative elections of 2006, which campaigned on armed resistance against Israel, and so became Prime Minister of the State of Palestine. However, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, dismissed Haniyeh from office on June 14, 2007. Due to the then-ongoing Fatah-Hamas conflict, Haniyeh did not acknowledge Abbas' decree and continued to exercise prime ministerial authority in the Gaza Strip. Haniyeh was the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip from 2006 until February 2017, when he was replaced by Yahya Sinwar. Haniyeh was seen by many diplomats as one of the more pragmatic and moderate figures in Hamas. From 2017 until his assassination by Israel in 2024, he had mostly lived in Qatar. 

On May 6, 2017, Haniyeh was elected chairman of Hamas's Political Bureau, replacing Khaled Mashal.  At that time, Haniyeh relocated from the Gaza Strip to Qatar. Under his tenure, Hamas launched the October 7th attack on Israel, which he celebrated in Doha.  Following Hamas' attack in late 2023, Israel declared its intention to assassinate all Hamas leaders. In May 2024, Karim Khan, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), announced his intention to apply for an arrest warrant for Haniyeh, and other Hamas leaders, for war crimes and crimes against humanity, as part of the ICC investigation in Palestine. On July 31, 2024, Haniyeh was assassinated by an explosive device planted in his residence in Tehran by likely Israeli Mossad agents.

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Ismail Haniyeh (b. 1962?, Al-Shāṭiʾ refugee camp, Gaza Strip — d. July 31, 2024, Tehrān, Iran) was a Palestinian politician and Hamas leader who served as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 2006–07, after Hamas won a majority of seats in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections. After interfactional fighting with rival Fatah led to the dissolution of the government and the establishment of an autonomous Hamas-led administration in the Gaza Strip, Haniyeh served as the leader of the de facto government in the Gaza Strip (2007–14). In 2017 he was selected to replace Khaled Meshaal as Hamas’s political bureau chief.

Early life and political activity


The son of Palestinian Arab parents displaced from their village near Ashqelon (in what is now Israel) in 1948, Haniyeh spent his early life in the Gaza Strip’s Al-Shāṭiʾ refugee camp, where he was born. As was typical for refugee children, Haniyeh was educated in schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which also provided food aid and medicine for the inhabitants of the camp. In 1981 Haniyeh enrolled in the Islamic University of Gaza, where he studied Arabic literature. He was also active in student politics, leading an Islamist student association affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.

When the Islamist group Hamas formed in 1988, Haniyeh was among its younger founding members, having developed close ties with the group’s spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Haniyeh was arrested by Israeli authorities in 1988 and imprisoned for six months for his participation in the first intifada (uprising against Israeli occupation). He was arrested again in 1989 and remained in prison until Israel deported him to south Lebanon in 1992 along with approximately 400 other Islamists. Haniyeh returned to Gaza in 1993 following the Oslo Accords. Upon his return, he was appointed dean of the Islamic University.

Prime ministership and Hamas leadership

Hamas: Ismail Haniyeh
Ismail Haniyeh, a senior figure within Hamas and the former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (March 2006–June 2007), waving to supporters at a rally for Hamas in the Gaza Strip, December 15, 2007.

Haniyeh’s leadership role in Hamas took root in 1997 when he became Yassin’s personal secretary. He remained a close confidant of the spiritual leader for the remainder of Yassin’s life. The two were targets of a failed assassination attempt by Israel in 2003, though Yassin was assassinated only a few months later.

In 2006 Hamas participated in the Palestinian legislative elections, with Haniyeh heading the list. The group won a majority of seats in the parliament, and Haniyeh became prime minister of the PA. The international community reacted to Hamas’s leadership by freezing aid to the PA, placing significant financial stress on the governing body. In June 2007, after months of tension that included armed conflict between the factions, Pres. Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah party dismissed Haniyeh and dissolved his government.


The result of the standoff was an autonomous Hamas-led government in the Gaza Strip, led by Haniyeh. Soon after, Israel implemented a package of sanctions and restrictions on the Gaza Strip, with Egypt following suit. After a barrage of rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel in January 2008, Israel intensified its blockade.


Nevertheless, Hamas remained in control of the Gaza Strip, and its rule oscillated between occasional political successes and setbacks. In terms of extracting concessions from Israel, Hamas secured the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel in exchange for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Hamas’s performance in the war with Israel in the summer of 2014, moreover, was widely viewed as successful by the Palestinian public. But, most notably, the continued blockade caused living conditions in the Gaza Strip to deteriorate significantly.

Meanwhile, there were a number of attempts at reconciliation between Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the Fatah-led PA in the West Bank. In one such attempt in 2014, the factional Hamas government in Gaza formally resigned in order to make way for a unity government with Fatah. In so doing, Haniyeh relinquished his post as prime minister. He remained the local leader of Hamas in Gaza, however, until he was replaced by Yahya Sinwar in 2017. Months later, Haniyeh was elected chief of Hamas’s political bureau, replacing Khaled Meshaal.

In December 2019 Haniyeh left the Gaza Strip and began living in Turkey and Qatar, facilitating his ability to represent Hamas abroad. Among his most notable visits were the funeral of Qassem Soleimani, a top commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who was killed by a U.S. drone strike in January 2020, and the inauguration of Iranian Pres. Ebrahim Raisi in August 2021. Later that month, as U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan, Haniyeh called Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar to congratulate him on the end of the U.S. presence in the country. In October 2022 Haniyeh met with Syrian Pres. Bashar al-Assad, the first meeting between leaders of Hamas and Syria since Hamas severed ties during the Syrian uprising.



During the Israel-Hamas War, Haniyeh led the Hamas delegation in negotiations mediated by Qatar and Egypt. In April 2024, amid a round of cease-fire negotiations, three of Haniyeh’s children and four of his grandchildren were killed in an Israeli strike. In May the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor announced that he would seek arrest warrants for Haniyeh, Sinwar, and Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, as well as for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. In July 2024 Haniyeh was killed by a remotely detonated explosive device, which a covert Israeli operation had planted two months earlier, while he was visiting Tehrān for the inauguration of Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian.

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Ismail Abd al-Salam Ahmad Haniyeh (Arabic: إسماعيل عبد السلام احمد هنية;[f][g][10] c. 1962 or 1963 – 31 July 2024)[c] was a Palestinian politician who served as chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from May 2017 until his assassination on July 2024.[11][12] He also served as prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority from March 2006 until June 2014 and Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip from June 2007 until February 2017, where he was succeeded by Yahya Sinwar. He was regarded as one of the most prominent leaders of Hamas since the death of Ahmed Yassin.[13]

Haniyeh was born in the al-Shati refugee camp in the then Egyptian-controlled Gaza Strip in 1962 or 1963,[c][14][15][16][17] to parents who were expelled or fled from Al-Jura (now part of Ashkelon) during the 1948 Palestine war.[8][5][7] He earned a bachelor's degree in Arabic literature from the Islamic University of Gaza in 1987,[7][18] where he first became involved with the militant group Hamas, which was formed during the First Intifada against the Israeli occupation. His involvement led to his imprisonment for three short periods after participating in protests. After his release in 1992, he was exiled to Lebanon, returning a year later to become a dean at Gaza's Islamic University. Haniyeh was appointed to head a Hamas office in 1997 and subsequently rose in the ranks of the organization.[19]

Haniyeh was head of the Hamas list that won the Palestinian legislative elections of 2006, which campaigned on armed resistance against Israel, and so became Prime Minister of the State of Palestine. However, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007. Due to the then-ongoing Fatah–Hamas conflict, Haniyeh did not acknowledge Abbas' decree and continued to exercise prime ministerial authority in the Gaza Strip.[20] Haniyeh was the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip from 2006 until February 2017, when he was replaced by Yahya Sinwar. Haniyeh was seen by many diplomats as one of the more pragmatic and moderate figures in Hamas.[21] From 2017 until his assassination by Israel in 2024, he had mostly lived in Qatar.[22]

On 6 May 2017, Haniyeh was elected chairman of Hamas's Political Bureau, replacing Khaled Mashal; at the time, Haniyeh relocated from the Gaza Strip to Qatar.[23][24] Under his tenure, Hamas launched the October 7th attack on Israel, which he celebrated in Doha.[25] Following Hamas' attack in late 2023, Israel declared its intention to assassinate all Hamas leaders.[25] In May 2024, Karim Khan, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, announced his intention to apply for an arrest warrant for Haniyeh, and other Hamas leaders, for war crimes and crimes against humanity, as part of the ICC investigation in Palestine.[26][27][28] On 31 July 2024, Haniyeh was assassinated by an explosive device planted in his residence in Tehran by likely Israeli Mossad agents.[29][16][30]

Early life and education

Ismail Abdulsalam Ahmed Haniyeh was born to a family of Muslim Palestinians in the al-Shati refugee camp of the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip.[31] His parents were expelled or fled from Ashkelon during the 1948 Palestine war, part of the territory where Israel was then established.[7] In his youth, he worked in Israel to support his family.[32] He attended United Nations–run schools and graduated from the Islamic University of Gaza with a degree in Arabic literature in 1987.[7][18] He became involved with Hamas while at university.[7] From 1985 to 1986, he was head of the students' council representing the Muslim Brotherhood.[18] He played as a midfielder in the Islamic Association football team.[18] He graduated at about the time that the First Intifada against the Israeli occupation broke out, during which he participated in protests against Israel.[7]

Early activism

Haniyeh participated in protests in the First Intifada and was given a short prison sentence by an Israeli military court.[7] He was detained by Israel again in 1988 and imprisoned for six months.[7] In 1989, he was imprisoned for three years.[7]

Following his release in 1992, the Israeli military authorities of the occupied Palestinian territories exiled him to Lebanon with senior Hamas leaders Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, Mahmoud Zahhar, Aziz Duwaik, and 400 other activists.[7] The activists stayed at Marj al-Zahour in southern Lebanon for over a year, where, according to BBC News, Hamas "received unprecedented media exposure and became known throughout the world".[7] A year later, he returned to Gaza and was appointed dean of the Islamic University.[7]

Political career

Hamas

After Israel released Ahmed Yassin from prison in 1997, Haniyeh was appointed to head his office.[7] His prominence within Hamas grew due to his relationship with Yassin and he was appointed as the representative to the Palestinian Authority.[7] His position within Hamas continued to strengthen during the Second Intifada due to his relationship with Yassin, and because of the assassinations of much of the Hamas leadership by the Israeli security forces. He was targeted by the Israel Defense Forces for his alleged involvement in attacks against Israeli citizens. Following a suicide bombing in Jerusalem in 2003, he was slightly injured on his hand by an Israeli Air Force bomb attack attempting to eliminate the Hamas leadership. In December 2005, Haniyeh was elected[citation needed] to head the Hamas list, which won the Legislative Council elections the following month. Haniyeh succeeded Khaled Mashaal's head leadership of Hamas in elections held in 2016.[33]

Prime minister

Graduation ceremony of police forces in Gaza, 16 June 2012
Haniyeh with Turkish Minister of Culture Numan Kurtulmuş, 20 November 2012
Haniyeh and Khaled Mashal in Gaza, 8 December 2012
See also: First Haniyeh Government

Haniyeh was nominated as prime minister on 16 February 2006 following the Hamas "List of Change and Reform" victory on 25 January 2006. He was formally presented to president Mahmoud Abbas on 20 February and was sworn in on 29 March 2006.

Western reaction

Israel implemented a series of punitive measures, including economic sanctions, against the Palestinian Authority following the election. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, announced that Israel would not transfer to the Palestinian Authority an estimated $50 million per month in tax receipts that were collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. Haniyeh dismissed the sanctions, stating that Hamas would neither disarm nor would it recognize Israel.

Haniyeh expressed regret that Hamas was subjected to punitive measures, adding that "it [Israel] should have responded differently to the democracy expressed by the Palestinian people".[citation needed]

The United States demanded that $50 million in unexpended foreign aid funds for the Palestinian Authority be returned to the United States, which Palestinian Economic Minister Mazen Sonokrot agreed to do.[34] On the loss of foreign aid from the United States and the European Union, Haniyeh commented that: "The West is always using its donations to apply pressure on the Palestinian people."[35]

Several months after Hamas' 2006 election victory, Haniyeh sent a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush, in which he called on the "American government to have direct negotiations with the elected government", offered a long-term truce with Israel, while accepting a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and urged an end to the international boycott, claiming that it would "encourage violence and chaos". The U.S. government did not respond and maintained its boycott.[36]

Dispute with Abbas

See also: Fatah–Hamas conflict

An agreement with Abbas was to have been reached to stop Abbas's call for new elections. On 20 October 2006, on the eve of this deal to end factional fighting between Fatah and Hamas, Haniyeh's convoy came under gunfire in Gaza and one of the cars was set on fire.[37] Haniyeh was not hurt in the attack. Hamas sources said that this was not an assassination attempt. Palestinian Authority security sources reported that the attackers were the relatives of a Fatah man killed by clashes with Hamas.[38]

Denied re-entry to Gaza

During the simmering Fatah–Hamas conflict, on 14 December 2006, Haniyeh was denied entry to Gaza from Egypt at the Rafah Border Crossing. The border crossing was closed by order of Israeli Minister of Defence Amir Peretz. Haniyeh was returning to Gaza from his first official trip abroad as prime minister. He was carrying an estimated US$30 million in cash, intended for Palestinian Authority payments. Israeli authorities later stated that they would allow Haniyeh to cross the border provided he left the money in Egypt, which would reportedly be transferred to an Arab League bank account. A gun battle between Hamas militants and the Palestinian Presidential Guard was reported at the Rafah Border Crossing in response to the incident. The EU monitors who operated the crossing were reportedly evacuated safely.[39] When Haniyeh later attempted to cross the border, an exchange of gunfire left one bodyguard dead and Haniyeh's eldest son wounded. Hamas denounced the incident as an attempt by rival Fatah on Haniyeh's life, prompting firefights in the West Bank and Gaza Strip between Hamas and Fatah forces. Haniyeh was quoted as saying that he knew who the alleged perpetrators were, but declined to identify them and appealed for Palestinian unity. Egypt offered to mediate the situation.[40]

Palestinian National Unity Government of March 2007

Main article: Second Haniyeh Government
Haniyeh and Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in 2012

Haniyeh resigned on 15 February 2007 as part of the process to form a national unity government between Hamas and Fatah.[41] He formed a new government on 18 March 2007 as head of a new cabinet that included Fatah as well as Hamas politicians.[42]

On 14 June 2007, amid the Battle of Gaza, President Mahmoud Abbas announced the dissolution of the March 2007 unity government and the declaration of a state of emergency.[43][44] Haniyeh was dismissed and Abbas ruled Gaza and the West Bank by presidential decree.[20]

After the Battle of Gaza

Around 2016, Haniyeh relocated from Gaza to Qatar. He maintained an office in Doha.[45]

On 13 October 2016, the Legal Committee of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) endorsed a request for the return of Haniyeh's government to the Gaza Strip, following its resignation on 2 June 2014. The endorsement was made in response to PLC's review of a study submitted by members of Hamas' parliament, angry about perceived government failings following Haniyeh's resignation. In Hamas' own words, denouncing the consensus government's "reneging on the internal accord between Hamas and factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization to form the 2014 consensus government, and replacing several ministers with Fatah leaders – turning it into a Fatah government." Despite the PLC recommendation and Hamas' plea, both the consensus government and Fatah refused the request, citing in a press release its illegality and risk of further divisions between Hamas-controlled Gaza and the West Bank.[46]

Head of Hamas political bureau

As of November 2016, reports circulated regarding Haniyeh's succession of Khaled Mashaal as leader of Hamas.[23] Mashaal, Haniyeh and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in Qatar recently to discuss national reconciliation and the upcoming national elections.[47] This meeting signaled that Haniyeh had been selected over the other two likely candidates, senior Hamas member Moussa Mohammed Abu Marzook and Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar.[48]

In 2018 he was placed on United States' list of specially designated global terrorists.[49]

Haniyeh left Gaza in September to visit a series of Arab and Muslim states in preparation for his new role and officially relocated to the Qatari capital of Doha, where Mashaal has been residing.[50] It is expected of the head of Hamas' politburo to live outside of the Gaza Strip.[23]

In February 2020, Haniyeh met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. U.S. State Department stated: "President Erdogan's continued outreach to this terrorist organization only serves to isolate Turkey from the international community, harms the interests of the Palestinian people, and undercuts global efforts to prevent terrorist attacks launched from Gaza."[51]

In August 2020, Haniyeh called Mahmoud Abbas and rejected the normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, something which Reuters called a "rare show of unity".[52]

On 26 July 2023, Haniyeh met with Erdoğan and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Behind the meeting was Turkey's effort to reconcile Fatah with Hamas.[53]

Israel–Hamas war

Main article: Israel–Hamas war

On 7 October 2023, the day of the Hamas attack on Israel, Haniyeh was in Istanbul, Turkey.[54] Footage from his office in the Qatari capital of Doha showed Haniyeh celebrating the Hamas-led 7 October attack on Israel with other Hamas officials, before they prayed and praised God. According to the Telegraph, Haniyeh became the "public face" of the attack, publicly describing it as the start of a new era in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.[55][25] Haniyeh gave a televised address in which he cited threats to Al-Aqsa mosque, the Israeli blockade of Gaza, and plight of Palestinian refugees:[56] "How many times have we warned you that the Palestinian people have been living in refugee camps for 75 years, and you refuse to recognise the rights of our people?"[56] He went on to say that Israel, "which cannot protect itself in the face of resistors", could not provide protection for other Arab countries, and that "all the normalization agreements that you signed with that entity cannot resolve this [Palestinian] conflict."[57][58]

PCPSR opinion poll on Palestinian presidential election candidates[59]

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WestBank (Sep 2023)
WestBank (Dec 2023)
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GazaStrip (Dec 2023)
  •   Ismail Haniyeh
  •   Mahmoud Abbas

On 10 October, Haniyeh said Hamas would not consider the release of any Israeli captives until the war was over. He claimed that the scope of Israel's retaliation was a reflection of the "resounding impact" the 7 October attack had on the country, and reiterated that the Palestinian people in Gaza had a "willingness to sacrifice all that is precious for the sake of their freedom and dignity." He added that Israel "will pay a heavy price for their crimes and terrorism [against the people of Palestine]."[60]

On 15 October 2023, the Times of Israel reported that Haniyeh "was politely sent away" from Turkey; Turkey officially denied these reports.[61] Haniyeh later met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Doha.[62]

On 16 October 2023, Haniyeh and Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed the possibility of releasing the hostages taken during the Hamas attack on Israel.[63] On 21 October 2023, Haniyeh spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan about the latest developments in the Israel–Hamas war and the current situation in Gaza.[64]

On 1 November 2023, Haniyeh accused Israel of committing "barbaric massacres against unarmed civilians" after Israel conducted an attack on the Jabalia refugee camp in an operation targeting senior Hamas member Ibrahim Biari, and resolved that fighting would continue until "Palestinians obtain their 'legitimate rights to freedom, independence and return'".[65]

On 2 November 2023, Haniyeh stated that if Israel agreed to a ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors to bring more aid into Gaza, Hamas is "ready for political negotiations for a two-state solution with Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine," adding that "Israeli captives are subjected to the same destruction and death as our people."[66]

On 13 December, an opinion poll showed that Haniyeh would defeat incumbent Mahmoud Abbas by a landslide for the position of President of the State of Palestine (78% for Haniyeh and 16% for Abbas).[67] However, in a three-way race between Haniyeh, Abbas, and Marwan Barhgouti, Barghouti would win 47%, Haniyeh would win 43% and Abbas would win 7%. Barghouti is under solitary imprisonment by Israel.[68]

On 20 May 2024, an arrest warrant for Haniyeh, as well as for other Palestinian and Israeli leaders, was requested by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan as part of the ICC investigation in Palestine, on several counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Israel-Hamas war.[69][70]

Views

Haniyeh was seen as relatively one of the more pragmatic and moderate figures in Hamas.[21]

Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy

During the Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy in 2006, Haniyeh strongly objected to the Pope's remarks: "In the name of the Palestinian people, we condemn the Pope's remarks on Islam. These remarks go against the truth and touch the heart of our faith." Haniyeh also denounced the Muslim attacks on churches in the West Bank and Gaza that occurred in reaction to the controversy.[71]

Relations with Israel

In August 2006, on his first visit abroad as prime minister to Iran, Haniyeh said: "We will never recognize the usurper Zionist government and will continue our jihad-like movement until the liberation of Jerusalem".[72] In December 2010, Haniyeh stated at a news conference in Gaza, "We accept a Palestinian state on the borders of 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital, the release of Palestinian prisoners, and the resolution of the issue of refugees." In addition, he said that if the Palestinian electorate approves such a peace agreement with Israel, his government will abide by it notwithstanding previous Hamas positions on the issue.[73]

On 23 March 2014, during a festival commemorating the tenth anniversary of the assassination of Sheik Ahmad Yassin, Haniyeh delivered a speech to a crowd of Hamas supporters, saying "From within Gaza, I repeat again and again: We will not recognize Israel... The Gaza blockade is unfortunately getting tighter and tighter." During this speech, the crowd chanted "Move forward Hamas, move! We are the cannon and you are the bullets. ... Oh Qassam, our beloved, bombard Tel Aviv."[74]

Osama bin Laden

On 2 May 2011, Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces, and the killing was praised by Hamas's rival Fatah.[75] Haniyeh instead referred to bin Laden as an "Arab holy warrior"[76] and condemned his killing as "the continuation of the American oppression and shedding of blood of Muslims and Arabs".[75] Political analysts said the remarks were an attempt to cool differences in the Gaza Strip with Al-Qaeda-inspired Salafi groups, which condemn Hamas as too moderate.[75] Another analyst wrote that Haniyeh's statement was directed at an Arab audience, and he saw an opportunity to distinguish Hamas from Fatah and exploit anti-American sentiment.[77] The United States government condemned his remarks as "outrageous".[78]

Personal and family life

Haniyeh standing behind Khamenei during the funeral of Qasem Soleimani.

Haniyeh was married and had 13 children,[79] three of whom were killed in 2024. In 2009, the family lived in Al-Shati refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.[18] In 2010, Haniyeh purchased a 2,500-square-metre (0.6-acre) parcel of land in Rimal, a Gaza City beachfront neighborhood.[79] Haniyeh registered the land in the name of his son-in-law.[79] Subsequently, Haniyeh reportedly purchased additional homes and registered them under the names of his children.[79] According to a 2014 Ynet article, Haniyeh was a millionaire, stemming from the 20% tax charged on all items entering through tunnels from Egypt to the Gaza Strip.[79] Haniyeh's eldest son was arrested by Egyptian authorities at the Rafah Border Crossing with several million dollars, which he intended to take into Gaza.[79]

Haniyeh's sisters, Kholidia, Laila, and Sabah, are Israeli citizens and live in the Bedouin town of Tel as-Sabi in southern Israel.[80] Kholodia moved to Tel as-Sabi first and then her two sisters followed.[80] Kholidia's husband said, "Our life is normal here and we want it to continue."[80] Laila and Sabah are both widowed but remain in Tel as-Sabi, presumably to retain their Israeli citizenship.[80] Some of the children of the three sisters have served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).[80]

In early 2012, Israeli authorities granted a request to travel by Haniyeh's sister, Suhila Abd el‑Salam Ahmed Haniyeh, and her critically ill husband for emergency heart treatment that could not be treated by hospitals in Gaza.[81] After successful treatment at the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel, the couple returned to Gaza.[81] Haniyeh's granddaughter was treated in an Israeli hospital in November 2013 and his mother-in-law was treated in an Israeli hospital in June 2014.[82] In October 2014, a few months after the 2014 Israel–Gaza War, Haniyeh's daughter spent a week in an Israeli hospital in Tel Aviv for emergency treatment after she suffered complications from a routine procedure.[82]

In September 2016, Haniyeh left Gaza with his wife and two of his sons for the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, known as the Hajj. This trip, interpreted as a campaign commencement, bolstered reports that Haniyeh was to replace Mashaal.[83] He went to Qassim Suleimani's funeral, in Tehran, Iran in 2020.[84][85]

During the last few years of his life, Haniyeh lived in Qatar.[86][87][88][89]

Killing of family members by Israel

In October 2023, fourteen members of his family were killed in an Israeli airstrike on his family home in Gaza City, among them a brother and nephew.[90]

In November 2023, a granddaughter of his, Roaa Haniyeh,[91] was reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City.[92] Later that month his eldest grandson was killed in an Israeli strike.[93][91]

On 10 April 2024, three of his sons, Hazem, Amir, and Muhammad,[6] and four of his grandchildren were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their family car, in the Gaza Strip.[6][94][95] The three sons and three of the grandchildren died on the day.[95][94] The New Arab reported that another granddaughter, named Malak, who had also been in the car, died of her injuries a week later.[96] The BBC named the four grandchildren as Mona, Amal, Khaled, and Razan.[6] Israel claimed Haniyeh's sons were "Hamas operatives" and were "on their way to carry out terrorist activities".[96] Most other sources say that at the time of the airstrike, the family members had been traveling together to Eid al-Fitr celebrations.[97] Middle East Eye released a video filmed on a mobile phone that allegedly shows one of Haniyeh's granddaughters "moments before fatal Israeli strike", she is excited about the festivities yelling "Eid has come".[98]

On 25 June 2024, ten members of his family, including his 80-year-old sister, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in al-Shati refugee camp.[99][100]

Death

Main article: Assassination of Ismail Haniyeh

On 31 July 2024, Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, where he was attending the inauguration of newly-elected President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian.[101] Hamas said that he was killed, along with one of his bodyguards, by a "Zionist" airstrike on a residence.[102][103] Other sources told al-Arabiya that the cause was a hidden bomb that could have been hidden two months before the explosion.[104] He was 62 at the time. According to The New York Times, Haniyeh was assassinated using a remotely detonated explosive device hidden in his guesthouse room two months earlier, which was triggered once he was confirmed to be inside.[30]

A funeral was held for Haniyeh in Tehran on 1 August, with Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei leading prayers. Haniyeh's remains will then be taken to Qatar and buried in Doha.[105]

Notes

  1. ^ Haniyeh was dismissed on 14 June 2007 by Abbas, who appointed Fayyad instead. This was deemed illegal by the Legislative Council, which continued to recognise Haniyeh. The Palestinian Authority governs the West Bank while Hamas governs the Gaza Strip. A unity government was formed in 2014.
  2. ^ After Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, Haniyeh served as the de-facto leader of Gaza Strip after a dispute with President Mahmoud Abbas. However, their rule over Gaza Strip was never recognized by any state. Haniyeh form the goverment in Gaza Strip on the same month.
  3. ^ Jump up to:a b c d There are contradictory reports on his date of birth:
    • 23 January 1962 or 1963[8]
    • or January 1963[14]
    • or 8 May 1963[5]
  4. ^ Three deceased.
  5. ^ Hazem, Amir, and Muhammad were killed in Israeli airstrike on 10 April 2024.[6]
  6. ^ Arabic: إسماعيل عبد السلام احمد هنية, romanized: Ismā'īl Abd al-Salam Ahmad Haniyyah[8][5][9] pronunciationⓘ; Full name as Ismail Abd al-Salah Ahmad Haniyeh.[5]
  7. ^ Sometimes transliterated as Haniya, Haniyah, or Hanieh.

References

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Ismail Haniyeh, a Top Hamas Leader, Is Dead at 62

Mr. Haniyeh, the Palestinian militant group’s exiled political chief, managed high-stakes negotiations, including the ongoing cease-fire talks to end the war in Gaza.

Listen to this article · 8:17 min Learn more
A group of men in suits, some making victory signs with their hands.
Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader, was in Tehran on Tuesday for the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s new president.Credit...Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times

By Raja Abdulrahim and Ephrat Livni

Raja Abdulrahim reported from Jerusalem and Ephrat Livni from Washington.

Ismail Haniyeh, a founding member of Hamas who rose to lead the Palestinian militant group’s political office from exile, was killed while visiting Iran on Wednesday. He was 62.

Mr. Haniyeh played a central role in Hamas’s evolution over the past two decades as it seized control of Gaza by force and then led the territory for 17 years, through multiple wars with Israel. More recently, he managed high-stakes negotiations and diplomacy for Hamas, including the ongoing indirect cease-fire talks with Israel seeking to end the war in Gaza.

He was assassinated in the Iranian capital, Tehran, where he was attending the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. He was there along with other senior members of Iran’s so-called “axis of resistance” — allied forces that include Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

He had already survived a previous assassination attempt in 2003, when Israel targeted him and his mentor, the spiritual leader and a founder of Hamas, Sheik Ahmed Yassin. The Israeli military assassinated Mr. Yassin the next year.

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“You don’t have to cry,” Mr. Haniyeh told a crowd gathered outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City at the time. “You have to be steadfast, and you have to be ready for revenge.”

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A group of men, some with Palestinian flags. One in the front is holding a framed photo of Mr. Haniyeh.
A group of professors gathered in front of the University of Tehran to protest the assassination of Mr. Haniyeh on Wednesday.Credit...Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times
Image
Ismail Haniyeh wearing a sport jacket, laughing with other men.
Ismail Haniyeh after Friday Prayer with supporters in Gaza City in 2012. He played a long and central role in Hamas.Credit...Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

Mr. Haniyeh was killed hours after meeting with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Tuesday. At the time of his death, Mr. Haniyeh was staying at a guesthouse affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. The overseas arm of the Guards, the Quds Force, is responsible for overseeing and nurturing the allied armed groups outside of Iran like Hamas.

Iran and Hamas blamed Mr. Haniyeh’s killing on Israel, which had no immediate comment. Israel has vowed to kill Hamas’ leaders and defeat the group in the wake of the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, which set off the war in Gaza.

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It was unclear how much control he and the other exiled Hamas political leaders exercised over the group’s leaders in Gaza and its military wing, which carried out the Oct. 7 attacks.

Hamas’s leadership was blamed by some Palestinian residents of Gaza for helping to start a war that led to an unprecedented Israeli military offensive that brought massive death and destruction across the entire territory. Gazans have also blamed leaders for being too slow to agree to a cease-fire deal. Now Mr. Haniyeh’s assassination threatens to further set back prospects for a truce.

Mr. Haniyeh was born in 1962 in the Shati refugee camp north of Gaza City to Palestinian parents who in 1948 had been permanently displaced from their home in what is now the Israeli city of Ashkelon in what Palestinians call the nakba, or catastrophe. He studied Arabic literature at the Islamic University of Gaza.

In 1988, he was among Hamas’s founding members. Israel arrested him for participating in the first intifada, or uprising, against the Israeli occupation. That was during Israel’s decades-long occupation of Gaza, and he served several sentences in Israeli prisons in the 1980s and 1990s.

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Mr. Haniyeh holds a cellphone to the mouth of Sheik Ahmed Yassin in a room where another person is sitting on a cot.
Mr. Haniyeh with Sheik Ahmed Yassin, a founder of Hamas, in Gaza City in June 2003. The Israeli military assassinated Mr. Yassin the next year.Credit...Stephen Farrell/Reuters
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Mr. Haniyeh talking with two other men. One is holding a sheet of paper.
Mr. Haniyeh, left, with senior political leaders for Hamas, during a break in a political meeting on Palestinian Authority reforms in Gaza City in 2002.Credit...Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

In 1992, Mr. Haniyeh was among about 400 Palestinians expelled by Israel from their homes in Gaza to southern Lebanon, which was then occupied by the Israeli military.

At the time, Israel said that the forced exile of hundreds of leaders of Palestinian armed groups was meant to strike hard against Hamas. But it had undesired effects.

“It shed international light on the movement,” said Tareq Baconi, the author of “Hamas Contained” and president of the board of Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, a think tank. “I think surprisingly for Israeli authorities who thought they were being effective by exiling these leaders, it actually shed more light on them.”

It also gave the newly established Hamas an international platform, and many of the group’s leaders who would later emerge were part of those forced into exile from Gaza, he said.

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Mr. Haniyeh once served as personal secretary to Mr. Yassin, who aided the younger man’s ascent to power in Gaza, and in 2006, he became the leader of Hamas in the territory.

That same year, Hamas won legislative elections against Fatah, a rival Palestinian faction.

Mr. Haniyeh briefly served as prime minister of a Palestinian unity government with other factions. But it was dissolved after months of tensions that erupted into armed conflict between the groups. Hamas routed Fatah forces from Gaza and forcibly seized control of the territory.

The group went on to rule Gaza with an authoritarian hand, tolerating little dissent.

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Mr. Haniyeh raises his arm while standing outdoors amid a crowd.
Mr. Haniyeh in Rafah, in southern Gaza, in May 2006.Credit...Said Khatib/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
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Mr. Haniyeh, left, with Yahya Sinwar and another man.
Mr. Haniyeh, left, with Yahya Sinwar, center, the most senior Hamas official in Gaza, at the funeral of another Hamas leader in Gaza City in 2017.Credit...Mohammed Salem/Reuters

Mr. Haniyeh moved to Qatar in 2017, when he was named the Hamas political leader. Inside Gaza, he was succeeded by Yahya Sinwar, who is considered one of the chief architects of the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. At the time of his move, Hamas was trying to soften its public image as it jockeyed for influence both with Palestinians and the international community.

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Living in exile, Mr. Haniyeh shuttled regularly between Qatar and Turkey.

At first, Mr. Haniyeh was seen as a leader who could not rise to the military capabilities of Mr. Sinwar or the diplomatic charisma of Khaled Meshal, a former chief of the group’s political office, Mr. Baconi said. But he was not overshadowed.

Mr. Haniyeh was “someone who was politically savvy and was able to engage in sort of playing the diplomatic game internally within the movement and trying to carry Hamas’s strategic and military goals into the negotiations,” he said.

“He was quiet and effective,” Mr. Baconi added. “And quite a tactful leader internally within the movement and someone who could have nudged toward a cease-fire if a serious offer was on the table.”

In April, three of Mr. Haniyeh’s sons and several of his grandchildren were killed in an Israeli strike near Gaza City. Israel identified the three adult sons as Amir, Mohammad and Hazem Haniyeh and said that all three were Hamas military operatives.

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A burned-out car.
Onlookers checking the car in which three sons of Mr. Haniyeh were said to have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Shati camp in Gaza in April.Credit...Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
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Mahmoud Abbas, left, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, center, and Mr. Haniyeh.
In a photo released by the Turkish Presidency Press Office last July, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, center, met in Ankara with Mahmoud Abbas, left, who is the president of the Palestinian Authority, and with Mr. Haniyeh.Credit...Mustafa Kamaci/Agence France-Presse, via Turkish Presidency Press Office

In June, Hamas said that Mr. Haniyeh’s sister and her family were killed in a strike by the Israeli military on the family home in Gaza.

Mr. Haniyeh was defiant in the face of the loss, a running theme in his life.

“We shall not give in, no matter the sacrifices,” he said at the time.

Tahani Mustafa, a senior Palestine analyst at the International Crisis Group, called Mr. Haniyeh one of Hamas’s most astute diplomats. His assassination would likely extend the war in Gaza, she said.

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“It’s not to say he renounced armed resistance, but at the same time, he was of the centrist moderates who thought conciliation, diplomacy were better routes to take,” Ms. Mustafa said. “In that sense, it’s a huge blow.”

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A woman hugging Mr. Haniyeh as other women look on.
A supporter greeted Mr. Haniyeh outside his home in Gaza City in 2006.Credit...Shawn Baldwin for The New York Times
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A boy standing at a kiosk on the beach.
A kiosk bore a portrait of Mr. Haniyeh in Gaza City in 2021.Credit...Mohammed Abed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

In May, the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court said he would seek an arrest warrant for Mr. Haniyeh, along with two other Hamas leaders and two Israeli leaders.

Karim Khan, the prosecutor, said he had “reasonable grounds to believe” that Mr. Haniyeh and the other Hamas leaders were responsible for “war crimes and crimes against humanity,” including “the killing of hundreds of Israeli civilians in attacks perpetrated by Hamas.”

In one of his last interviews, Mr. Haniyeh spoke to a Palestinian news agency on Tuesday as he toured a theme park exhibition in Tehran of replicas of landmarks from “axis of resistance” nations.

“We were filled with great pride and honor as we roamed the land of civilizations, moving from one country to another and from one state to another, with Jerusalem at its heart,” Mr. Haniyeh said as he stood in front of a replica of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

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