Ismail Haniyeh [Abu al-'Abd]
Israel had called Ismail Haniyeh “a dead man walking”, but amid sensitive hostage negotiations, had agreed not to assassinate him in Doha, one of his foreign bases. Mossad chief David Barnea said in January 2024 that his service was “obliged” to hunt down the leaders of Hamas.
“With all meanings of pride and honor, and with more faith, patience and determination to continue the path of the righteous martyrs and the heroic march of the Al-Aqsa Flood , we mourn to our Palestinian people in all arenas of the homeland and abroad, and to our Arab and Islamic nation and the free people of the world; the leader Ismail Haniyeh.” Hamas stated 31 July 2024. God concluded the life of the martyred leader with the greatest conclusion, as he devoted his life from his early childhood to serving his people and nation, and raising the banner of resistance and jihad in the face of the occupation, and raised a great generation of heroes and resistance fighters, and instilled in them the spirit of freedom, jihad and martyrdom, until they became and still are a thorn in the throats of the Zionists, and a source of terror for their leaders."
The statement described the assassination of Haniyeh in the Iranian capital, Tehran, as "a fully-fledged terrorist act , a violation of Iran's sovereignty , a dangerous escalation, and an expansion of the circle of its aggression and criminality against our people and nation. The Zionist enemy and its supporters bear responsibility for this crime and its dangerous repercussions on the region and the world, and they will not succeed in preventing the roar of the Al-Aqsa flood from shaking the foundations of this usurping entity and destroying it, God willing." The statement stressed that Hamas "offers its leaders and founders as martyrs for the sake of our people's freedom and dignity and the liberation of their homeland and Jerusalem. It will never be defeated , and these crimes will only increase its strength, steadfastness and unwavering determination.
Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed in the early hours of Wednesday 31 July 2024 after the building where they were staying was struck, The Hamas leader was killed when an “airborne guided projectile” hit a special residence for military veterans in the north of Tehran, at which he was staying, at about 2am (22:30 GMT on Tuesday). Haniyeh was killed during a visit to one of Hamas’ most crucial allies, Iran, after attending the inauguration of its new president. Iran and Hamas both accused Israel, which has not commented on the strike.
The group's Shura council, the main consultative body, was now expected to meet soon after Haniyeh's funeral in Qatar, to name a successor. The council’s membership is kept secret but represents regional chapters of the group, in Gaza, the West Bank and diaspora and those imprisoned. One of Haniyeh’s deputies was Zaher Jabarin, who has been described as the group’s chief executive officer because of the important role he plays in managing the group’s finances, and with that, his good offices with Iran. The choice is now likely between Khaled Mashaal, a veteran Hamas official and former leader, and Khalil al-Hayya, a powerful figure within Hamas who was close to Haniyeh. A third possible contender is Nizar Abu Ramadan, who had challenged Sinwar for the role of Gaza chief, and is considered close to Mashaal.
Ismail Haniyeh was the leader of Hamas who ordered the 07 October 2023 attack on Israel. He was living in Qatar and reportedly watched the aggressions from the comfort of his office. Haniyeh, a Palestinian politician and a senior leader of Hamas, was the current chairman of Hamas's political bureau. Haniyeh's full name was Ismail Abdel Salam Ahmed Haniyeh. He has a child named Abed Al-Salam Haniyeh. He was married to Amal Haniyeh.
His name, also spelled Isml Haniyyah and Ismail Haniya, has been synonymous with the resistance movement in Palestine for over two decades. He took over the Gaza portion of the Palestinian Territories in 2007. Hamas, an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya (the Islamic Resistance Movement), was founded in 1987 in the midst of a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation. Ismail Haniyeh, aka Ismail Abdel Salam Ahmed Haniyeh, aka Ismail Haniya, aka Ismail Haniyah, aka Ismail Haniyyah, aka Ismael Haniyah, aka Ismael Haniya, aka Ismayil Haniyeh, aka Ismail Hanieh, was the leader and President of the Political Bureau of Hamas, which was designated in 1997 as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and in 2001 as an SDGT. His name has been synonymous with the resistance movement in Palestine for about two decades.
Preceded by Khaled Meshal, Ismail Haniyeh had been Political Bureau chief since May 2017. After two years of steering the movement, he moved to Qatar in 2019. He won the movement's presidency again in the 2021 internal elections. Haniyeh has close links with Hamas’ military wing and has been a proponent of armed struggle, including against civilians. He reportedly was involved in terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens.
Ismail Haniyeh was born in the refugee camp of Shati [Beach], west of Gaza City, on 29 January 1962. His parents had resided in the camp since they migrated from their homes in the city of Ashkelon after the Nakba during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948. Haniyeh’s family was forced to flee their home in the occupied Palestinian city of Ashkalon when Zionist gangs ethnically cleansed Palestine in 1948.
Haniyeh received his primary education in institutions managed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). He started studying Arabic literature at the Islamic University of Gaza in 1981. He obtained a master's degree in Arabic Studies from the Islamic University of Gaza.
His political inclinations were formed during university when he aligned himself with the Islamist movement, which was gaining momentum in the region at the time. His early life was affected by the Israel-Palestine conflict, as many are experiencing today. He was a prominent figure in a student association linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, participating actively in student politics. Between 1985 and 1986, Haniyeh was elected as head of the Student Union at the University.
While in attendance he became enthralled with Islamic movements and developed a strong relationship with Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the founder of HAMAS. Haniyeh began his activity within the “ Islamic Bloc ,” which represented the student arm of the Muslim Brotherhood , and from it emerged the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas. He worked as a member of the Student Council of the Islamic University of Gaza between 1983 and 1984. Then, in the following year, he assumed the position of President of the Student Council, where the university was known. During this period, there were sharp disagreements between the Islamic bloc and the Fatah Youth, which represented the student arm of the Fatah movement , which Dahlan headed at the university. After graduating, he worked as a teaching assistant at the university, and then took over administrative affairs as Dean.
Haniyeh joined the ranks of Hamas and quickly rose through its leadership until winning the Palestinian legislative elections in 2006. The first Intifada began in 1987 and lasted till 1993, the uprising against Israeli occupation of West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem witnessed massive protests and even suicide bombings.
The Israeli occupation detained Haniyeh in 1988 for his participation in protests during the First Intifada but released him six months later. However, he was arrested again in 1989 and the Israeli occupation forces held him in detention between 1989 and 1992. Following his second release, Israeli occupation forces deported him to Marj al-Zuhur on the Lebanese -Palestinian border along with 400 other Palestinian activists. Exiled with a group of Hamas leaders, he spent a full year in deportation in 1992. A year later, he returned to Gaza and held a senior position at the Islamic University of Gaza.
After spending a year in exile, he returned to Gaza, and was appointed Dean of the Islamic University of Gaza. Due to his close association with Yassin he was placed in charge of his office. In 1997, he was appointed head of the office of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of the Hamas movement, after his release. His position in the Hamas movement was strengthened during the Al-Aqsa Intifada because of his relationship with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and because of the Israeli assassinations of the movement’s leadership.
In December 2005, he headed the Change and Reform List, which won a majority in the second Palestinian legislative elections in 2006. He often served as the liaison between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. He was considered a moderate and, as such, he was placed at the head of the Hamas list in an effort to win over mainstream Palestinian voters in the 2006 Palestinian parlimentary elections. Hamas ended up winning a vast majority of the seats in parliament. After the elections, Haniyeh called for a political partnership to be discussed with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The two parties were incapable of coming to an agreement however, and Haniyeh eventually becamse Prime Minister of the newly formed Hamas government in early 2006. On February 16 , 2006, Hamas nominated him to assume the position of Prime Minister of Palestine , and he was appointed on the twentieth of that month. On June 30 , 2006, the Israeli government threatened to assassinate him unless the captured Zionist soldier Gilad Shalit was released.
Ismail Haniyeh's political journey included serving as the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA) from 2006 to 2007, a tenure that began after Hamas secured a suprising majority of seats in the 2006 Palestinian legislative council elections. He took on the role of leading the de facto government in Gaza from 2007 to 2014 after an internal disute with rival Fatah, which governed in West Bank, leading to the disbandment of the government and the formation of an independent Hamas-led administration in the Gaza Strip. Factional violence and outside pressures, most notably the economic sanctions imposed by the United States, Israel, and the European Union, forced Hamas and Fatah to finally form a new, unity government in February 2007. Haniyeh retained his post as Prime Minister once the new government was formed. He was considered to be pragmatic and more open to having talks with Israel than other leaders within Hamas. Though considered a Hamas moderate, some believe Haniya's moderation to be a political tactic.
Throughout his time in office, Haniyeh dedicated himself to pushing for intra-Palestinian reconciliation and welcomed efforts in this regard. He also adopted a policy of openness to the Arab and Islamic Ummah. Repeated attempts at reconciliation with Israel failed under Haniyeh's tenure as Prime Minister. New political dynamics in the Middle East and the rise of military groups such as ISIS made Gaza an even more sought-after region. It is one of the most densely-populated areas in the world and half of its 2.5 million residents are children.
On June 14, 2007 , Haniyeh was dismissed from his position as Prime Minister by the President of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas , after the Martyr Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, took control of the security apparatus centers in the Gaza Strip. Haniyeh rejected the decision because he considered it “unconstitutional” and described it as hasty, emphasizing that “His government will continue its duties and will not abandon its national responsibilities towards the Palestinian people .” The Palestinian Legislative Council considered the dismissal an illegal act, and he continued in his position in the Gaza Strip as head of the dismissed caretaker government until the Legislative Council granted confidence to another government.
On July 25, 2009, during the graduation ceremony of the twenty-eighth cohort at the Islamic University of Gaza, the university administration granted President Ismail Haniyeh an honorary doctorate and the Medal of Honor, First Class, in appreciation of his efforts in serving the Palestinian cause.
Haniyeh called for Palestinian reconciliation with the Fatah movement and announced his acceptance several times of relinquishing the presidency of the government within the framework of comprehensive reconciliation. He actually gave it up on June 2, 2014 to Rami Hamdallah. When handing over the government, Haniyeh said: “Today I hand over the government voluntarily and out of concern for the success of national unity and resistance in every way.” Its forms in the next stage.
This affiliation also left him vulnerable to assassination attempts and Israeli airstrikes. He rose through the leadership ranks after the assassinations of Sheik Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi. He was targeted by three failed assassination attempts, two by the Fatah movement and one by the Israeli occupation.
In 2003, after a martyrdom operation, the Zionist aircraft launched an Israeli raid to target the Hamas leadership, wounding Haniyeh in the hand. He was slightly injured as a result of the Israeli raid that targeted the founder of the movement, Ahmed Yassin .
On October 20 , 2006, on the eve of ending the fighting between the Fatah and Hamas factions , his convoy came under fire in Gaza and one of the cars was burned . Haniyeh was not harmed and Hamas sources said that this was not an attempt to assassinate him, and Palestinian National Authority sources said that the attackers were relatives of a Fatah activist who was killed during the clash with Hamas.
On December 15 , 2006 , he was subjected to a failed assassination attempt after his convoy was shot at as it crossed the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Which led to the death of one of his companions, “Abdul Rahman Nassar,” 20 years old, and the wounding of 5 of his companions, including his son, “Abdul Salam,” and his political advisor, Ahmed Youssef. Hamas accused the Presidential Guard forces of the 17 security forces of the Fatah movement , led by Muhammad Dahlan , which controls The security of the crossing at that time.
Ismail Haniyeh, then prime minister of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, on 02 May 2011 denounced the U.S. killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. "We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior," Haniyeh told reporters. We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood."
Hamas continued to reject three basic principles: rejection of terrorism, recognition of Israel’s right to exist, and adherence to all previously-made agreements. As recently as May 2011, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh stated, “our plan does not involve negotiations with Israel or recognizing it.”
On July 28, 2014 , during the Battle of Al-Asif Al-Makoul, occupation aircraft bombed his house in the Al-Shati Palestinian refugee camp, west of Gaza City, with several missiles, which led to the complete destruction of the house.
The Department of State designated Ismail Haniyeh, Harakat al-Sabireen, Liwa al Thawra, and Harakat Sawa’d Misr (HASM) on 31 January 2018 as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) under Section 1(b) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224. In announcing these designations, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson emphasized that “these designations target key terrorist groups and leaders – including two sponsored and directed by Iran – who are threatening the stability of the Middle East, undermining the peace process, and attacking our allies Egypt and Israel. Today’s actions are an important step in denying them the resources they need to plan and carry out their terrorist activities.”
E.O. 13224 imposes sanctions on foreign persons determined to have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States. These designations seek to deny Ismail Haniyeh, Harakat al-Sabireen, Liwa al Thawra, and HASM the resources they need to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks. Among other consequences, all of their property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them.
The militant groups in Gaza fired on 25 March 2019 night a barrage of rockets into southern Israel after the intensive Israeli airstrikes on military facilities and compounds in the enclave. The Israeli cabinet decided to strike military facilities and compounds that belong to Hamas and other militant groups in the Gaza Strip in response to an earlier rocket attack on central Israel that wounded seven Israelis. During the Israeli airstrikes, the headquarters of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was completely destroyed, in addition to two security buildings. After more than a year of relative peace and stability in the besieged Gaza Strip, by 12 May 2021 Israel and its bitter enemy Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) are again on the brink of a large-scale war. The Israeli military continued its bombardment in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, targeting buildings and apartments that led to heavy casualties, mainly among civilians, in the wake of hundreds of rockets fired from the Palestinian coastal enclave. The current wave of violence between Israel and Gaza militant groups was the first of its kind since the last large-scale air and ground offensive that Israel waged on the Palestinian enclave for 50 days in 2014.
Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh said in a televised speech that his group had received calls from different mediating parties, asking Hamas to stop firing rockets at Israel. "Our response was that the occupation is the one which should stop assaults and attacks on Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Gaza Strip," Haniyeh said. "The one responsible for the current escalation is (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu," Haniyeh added.
Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh on 30 March 2022 welcomed a terror attack that killed five Israeli in a suburb of Tel Aviv this week. A gunman opened fire in the suburb of Tel Aviv, killing five people in the third such street attack this week. The attacker was later shot by the Israeli police. It emerged hours later that the attacker was a Palestinian from the West Bank. Haniyeh and his group Hamas praised the terror attack, maintaining that the normalization of Israel's relations with some Arab states can never be a security guarantee to Israel. "We are proud of the Palestinian people and the free people of the nation in the face of the heroic attack that struck all of Israel," Haniyeh said in a statement.
The Hamas chief maintained that Palestinian people were born out of the womb of these heroes in Jenin, the Negev and the Triangle, with the 'Sword of Jerusalem' brought by Gaza during last Ramadan, referring to the terrorists who carried out the recent attacks in Bnei Brak, Beersheba and Hadera, as well as the May 2021 conflict between Israel and Gaza terror groups.
Ismail Haniyeh became the head of the Hamas Movement and a member of the "collective leadership" of Hamas in Gaza. Haniyeh was chosen as Hamas leader by the movement's Council of Officials, whose full membership is not known. The HAMAS Council of Officials promoted Haniyeh to the position of head of the political bureau in 2017 and again in 2021, giving him another four-year term.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said 06 April 2023 that the Palestinian resistance factions will not stand idle facing Israeli aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Following his meeting with Palestinian resistance factions in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, Haniyeh said that the Israeli government was fully responsible for the "brutal aggression" against Al-Aqsa Mosque and the worshipers.
In a video clip released shortly after the October 7 attack, Haniyeh appeared in an office with a group of about ten men, all of whom prostrated themselves while images of the movement’s armed elements storming Israel were on a television set in the same room.
“Treasury officials have, on several occasions, accused Hamas’ leadership of enjoying lavish lifestyles outside Gaza while ordinary Palestinians suffer the consequences of the armed group’s actions,” the newspaper says. “Like many Russian elites, senior Hamas officials often live in luxury, while the average citizen in Gaza faces harsh living conditions,” Adeyemo, the deputy Treasury secretary, said last week.
Brian Nelson, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a speech that the investment portfolio allows Hamas officials “to live in luxury, while ordinary Palestinians in Gaza face harsh living conditions.” But Treasury Department spokesmen refused to provide any evidence to support these assertions, according to the Washington Post, and the Israeli Foreign Ministry refused to provide any evidence to support its claims that Haniyeh and other senior Hamas leaders personally own billions of dollars.
Haniyeh was able to run the movement's operations from Qatar because the United States and Israel had long implicitly supported his presence there, believing that it was better for Hamas leaders to be in a place where they could be monitored rather than somewhere else, such as Iran. Israel imposes restrictions on the movement of Palestinians inside Gaza, making it more practical for Hamas leaders like Haniyeh to live abroad.
A report by the American newspaper "Washington Post" said that the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Hamas movement, Ismail Haniyeh, "oversees a vast financial network... while living hundreds of miles away from chaos and violence in Gaza,".
Haniyeh, who has been subject to US economic sanctions since 2018, faced severe economic sanctions from the West as part of a broader war against Hamas, especially since the bloody attack launched by the movement, which Washington classifies as terrorist, on Israel last 07 October 2023, leaving about 1,400 dead, most of them civilians.
American officials pledged to take strict measures against Hamas' financial network, just as Israel pledged to eliminate it militarily. Senior US Treasury Department officials traveled to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Europe as part of a coordinated campaign to target Hamas's funding sources. US Treasury Department officials accuse senior Hamas leaders of living "in luxury," including Haniyeh, who lived in Qatar, which is an ally of the United States and was trying to mediate the release of more than 200 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
CNN said that Qatar had once again become "the front and center of global diplomacy," this time for its efforts to mediate negotiations for the release of those kidnapped by Hamas, after the October 7 attack, as well as efforts to evacuate foreign nationals from Gaza. Mark Wallace, CEO of United Against Nuclear Iran and a former official in the administration of President George W. Bush, said in an interview with the newspaper, “Haniyeh is really important, as he is one of the likes of bin Laden in this story,” as he put it. He added, "It is wrong for him to live in Qatar in luxury. Doha must extradite him."
Although the movement and its leaders had been facing US sanctions since 1995, the Treasury Department recently announced new sanctions against a group of senior Hamas leadership officials “in an attempt to undermine the financial flows that fueled its attack on Israel,” according to the American newspaper.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that Haniyeh's personal wealth was estimated at billions of dollars, although independent experts say that there was no evidence to support this claim. Hamas' finances stand in stark contrast to the abject poverty experienced by Gazans, even before the Israeli army launched devastating bombardments on the Strip in response to the Hamas attack.
It was noteworthy that it was not clear whether Haniyeh had advance knowledge of this bloody attack, as experts are divided over the extent of the control of the political wing of the Hamas movement over its military leadership, which was stationed in Gaza. Wally Adeyemo, Deputy Secretary of the US Treasury, said, “Today, the Treasury Department is focusing intensely on dismantling Hamas’ financial networks.” He added that Hamas has long sought to destroy Israel and attack those who do not belong to its ideology. He went on to stress, "These groups need financial resources to help fuel their hatred, and to do so, they have developed ways to access or circumvent our financial systems."
According to Matthew Levitt, a former Treasury Department official who was now director of the Reinhardt Counterterrorism Program, Hamas “by imposing taxes on Palestinians in Gaza, with duties of up to 20% on imports, raises as much as $400 million.” annually". American officials estimate, according to the same report, that Hamas also owns a huge investment portfolio “worth more than $500 million, and possibly as much as $1 billion, with assets in Sudan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and the United Arab Emirates, among other countries.”
In addition, the American newspaper quotes Roth, director of the United Against Nuclear Iran organization, as saying that Hamas “receives up to $450 million annually in smuggling fees on the black market.” In this regard, the US State Department said that Iran provides up to $120 million to Palestinian groups, including Hamas, while experts estimate that it also receives hundreds of millions from other international funding sources, including Qatar. “Overall, Hamas spends approximately $1.6 billion on government operations in Gaza,” Roth said.
Israel and Egypt have imposed a strict siege on Gaza since Hamas took control of the Strip in 2007 after a conflict with Fatah, the political party that controls the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. These restrictions harmed ordinary citizens in Gaza, suffocating Palestinians from the international economic system.
The newspaper's report goes back to saying, "However, Hamas's illicit international financial channels played a crucial role in financing the October 7 attack, which required it to pay for soldiers, ammunition and other weapons to infiltrate the Israel Defense Forces and an expensive, high-tech surveillance system on the border."
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