Who Was Ismail Haniyeh, The Hamas Chief Killed In Iran?

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iranian capital Tehran in the wee hours of Wednesday. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) reported his death which was followed by confirmation from Hamas after several hours. This high profile killing marks a huge moment in the context of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Initial reports suggested that Haniyeh was assassinated in an Israeli raid. He was assassinatedjust hours after he met Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, who even posted images of the meeting on his official handle on social media platform X. According to media reports, Haniyeh was in Iran to attend to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Iranian President-elect, Masoud Pezeshkian.

Who was Ismail Haniyeh?

Ismail Abdulsalam Ahmed Haniyeh, the Palestinian leader, was regarded as the leader of Hamas, the militant group currently at war with Israeli forces in Gaza.

Ismail Haniyeh childhood

Haniyeh was born in Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip. He attended schools run by the United Nations following which he attended Islamic University of Gaza. He had a degree in Arabic literature. He graduated in 1987. His association with Hamas began when he was in university.

He was also involved in Muslim Brotherhood, the organisation active across the Arab world. He part in anti-Israel protests during what is called the First Intifada.

Ismail Haniyeh political career

Haniyeh gained prominence in Hamas because of his activism and in 1997, was appointed head of office of Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Hamas. This enabled him to establish close ties with top Hamas leadership. He later became representative of the Palestinian Authority.

He was nominated as prime minister in 2006. In the same year he had difference with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, his own boss. The year saw factional conflict between Hamas and Fatah, which is a Palestinian group as well.

A notable event in his tenure as prime minister was when he was refused entry into Palestine through the Rafah border crossing by Israel. He was returning to Gaza after his first trip abroad as prime minister and was carrying USD 30 million with him in his car.

With Haniyeh being active in Hamas when the top leadership was being eliminated by Israel, he played a crucial role in sustaining the leadership structure.

In 2016 elections, Haniyeh assumed leadership of Hamas. He was designated as terrorist by the United Nations in the year 2018

Ismail Haniyeh role during Israel-Hamas war

After Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, Haniyeh strongly supported the attack and taking of hostages. After outbreak of the war and devastating Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, Israeli leaders, particularly PM Benjamin Netanyahu, were firm on release of all Israeli hostages being a pre-condition for any negotiations.

But Haniyeh remained firm on ceasefire, opening of humanitarian corridors and negotiations based on Two-State Solution before all the hostages were released.