Who was Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh?
World
Ismail Haniyeh was born on May 8, 1963 in the al-Shati refugee camp in the Egyptian-occupied Gaza
(Web Desk) - Chief political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated on Iran capital Tehran on Wednesday where he had gone to attend swearing in ceremony for the country's new president.
Ismail Haniyeh was born on May 8, 1963 in the al-Shati refugee camp in the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip. His parents were originally living in what is now Ashkelon before the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight, which took place during the 1948 Arab-Israel war. In his youth, he worked in Israel to support his family.
He attended United Nations-run schools and later studied at the Islamic University of Gaza and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Arabic literature in 1987. He also played as a midfielder in the Islamic Association football team.
He became involved with Hamas while studying at university. In 1985-86, he was head of the students' council representing the Muslim Brotherhood. He graduated at about the time that the First Intifada against the Israeli occupation broke out, during which he participated in protests against Israel.
He was sentenced by an Israeli military court for participating in Intifada. He was detained by Israel again in 1988 and imprisoned for six months. In 1989, he was imprisoned for three years. Following his release in 1992, the Israeli military authorities deported him to Lebanon with senior Hamas leaders and 400 activists.
Hamas was founded by Palestinian imam and activist Ahmed Yassin in 1987 and Haniyeh joined the organistaion in 1988.
He was appointed to head a Hamas office in 1997 and subsequently rose in the ranks of the organisation.
Haniyeh was nominated as prime minister on February 16, 2006 following the Hamas "List of Change and Reform" victory on January 25, 2006 in legislative election. He was formally presented to Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on February 20 and was sworn in on March 29. He resigned on February 15, 2007 as part of the process to form a national unity government between Hamas and Fatah. He formed a new government on March 18, 2007.
On June 14, 2007, amid the Battle of Gaza, President Abbas announced the dissolution of the unity government and declared a state of emergency. Haniyeh was dismissed and Abbas ruled Gaza and the West Bank by presidential decree.
Haniyeh was the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip from 2006 until February 2017, when he was replaced by Yahya Sinwar. On May 6, 2017, he was elected chairman of Hamas's Political Bureau, replacing Khaled Mashal.
In 2018, he was placed on United States list of specially designated global terrorists.
On October 7, 2023, the day Hamas attacked Israel, Haniyeh was in Istanbul, Turkey.
On May 20, 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.
He married his cousin Amal at the age of 16, with whom he had 13 children – eight sons and five daughters.
On July 31, 2024, he was killed in a missile attack in Tehran.
