The leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh was targeted by Israel in a missile attack in Tehran and brutally killed.
Hamas announced the news with the statement “Brother, leader, mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement, died in a Zionist strike on his headquarters in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of the new (Iranian) president,” Iran’s Revolutionary Guard confirmed the death and vowed revenge on Israel.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Israel had provided the grounds for “harsh punishment for itself” and it was Tehran’s duty to avenge the Hamas leader’s death as it had occurred in the Iranian capital.
Iranian forces had already made strikes directly on Israel earlier in the Gaza war.
Haniyeh, normally based in Qatar, has been the face of Hamas’s international diplomacy as the war set off by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct.
7 has raged in Gaza.
He had been taking part in internationally-brokered talks on reaching a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.
Hamas’ armed wing said in a statement Haniyeh’s killing would “take the battle to new dimensions and have major repercussions”, while Iran declared three days of national mourning and vowed to retaliate.
The assassination, which took place less than 24 hours after Israel claimed to have killed the Hezbollah commander it said was behind a deadly strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, appears to set back chances of any imminent ceasefire agreement in the 10-month-old war Ghaza.
Haniyeh was relatively wealthy according to Palestinian standards and owned properties in Ghaza strip.
He was married with 13 children and many grandchildren and was reputed to have collected 20% tax on all items entering through tunnels from Egypt into the Ghaza Strip.
Three of his children have been killed this year by the relentless Israeli bombings of the Ghaza Strip but he remained steadfast in his mission to retaliate against the state of Israel.
Appointed to the Hamas top job in 2017, he has moved between Turkey and Qatar’s capital Doha, escaping the travel curbs of the blockaded Gaza Strip and enabling him to act as a negotiator in ceasefire talks or to talk to Hamas’ ally Iran.
Haniyeh was born in the al-Shati refugee camp in the then Egyptian-controlled Gaza Strip in 1963, to parents who were expelled or fled from Ashkelon during the 1948 Palestine war.
He gained a bachelor’s degree in Arabic literature in 1987 from the Islamic University of Gaza, where he first became involved with Hamas after it was created during the First Intifada against the Israeli occupation, leading to his imprisonment for three short periods after having participated 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.
The sudden and brutal assassination of Ismail Haniyeh will have serious and significant ramifications for Iran, Israel, Palestine, Ghaza and the Middle East region.
Haniyeh’s leadership and understanding of the Palestine issue was vital for maintaining the influence of Hamas in Ghaza and its relationship with other members of the Iran Backed network known as the Axis of resistance.
His position allowed him to coordinate efforts against Israel and manage political relations with regional allies and supporters of the Palestinian cause and his death is definitely a serious and significant setback for Hamas.
This assassination can significantly alter the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East.
Iran considers this an attack on its sovereignty which could result in an increase of retaliatory attacks from Iran and its proxies including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthies of Yemen including some other Iran aligned pro-Palestinian groups in the region.
The nature and magnitude of Iran’s reprisals will determine if the situation will escalate into a broader regional conflict.
This incident will definitely strengthen the axis of resistance and encourage coordinated and joint responses against Israel leading to increased regional instability.
This action will embolden the right wing factions inside Israel who will see this as a signal to be more aggressive and retaliate with more ferocity.
Netanyahu already under pressure due to corruption scandals could scuttle all peace deals and increase military actions.
The internal situation of the Israeli PM could force him to make decisions that may engulf the entire region in war.
This new development could become a unifying force for the Palestinians especially for the recent reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah.
The need of the hour is a unified Palestinian leadership which will be in a better position to respond to the present conflict and address the needs of the Palestinians in Ghaza and the occupied territories something the leadership of Mahmud Abbas has been unable to achieve.
This unity could strengthen Palestinian resistance efforts but also complicate peace negotiations, as a more unified Palestinian front will speak from a stronger position and reflect that in its demands and hardened position.
This killing raises some significant legal and ethical questions, challenging the principles of sovereignty and non-intervention.
Israelis have committed an act of grave aggression, setting a dangerous precedent.
Such incidents erode the integrity of international relations, undermine global legal frameworks, and open the door for a never ending and vicious circle of tit for tat retaliations which could plunge the entire Middle East in a bloody and destructive conflict.
Haniyeh was an early advocate of Hamas entering politics, In 1994 he said that forming a political party “Would enable Hamas to deal with emerging developments” Initially he was over ruled by the Hamas leaders but later Haniyeh became Prime Minister after the group won the Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006 a year after the Israeli military withdrew from the Ghaza Strip and the group took control of Ghaza in 2007.
In 2012 when asked by reporters if Hamas had abandoned the armed struggle Haniyeh responded “Of course not” and said the resistance will continue “In all forms, popular resistance, political, diplomatic and military resistance”
—The writer is Professor of History, based in Islamabad.
