Nasim Ahmed
Middle East Monitor / August 1, 2024
Throughout his political career, Haniyeh survived multiple assassination attempts by Israel.
In a brazen act that has sent shockwaves across the Middle East, Ismail Haniyeh, the exiled political chief of Hamas, was assassinated on Wednesday in Tehran. The 62-year-old Palestinian leader was killed during a visit to Iran to attend the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Haniyeh, a key figure in ongoing ceasefire negotiations and hostage release talks, was staying at a guesthouse affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps when the fatal attack occurred.
The assassination on Iranian soil has not only shocked the region, but also ignited intense debate about the intelligence capabilities of both Israel and Iran. The successful execution of such a high-profile operation without detection has raised questions about potential vulnerabilities in Iran’s security apparatus. Some analysts suggest that this level of precision and access would require detailed intelligence from high-level sources, fueling debates about possible informants within Iran’s inner circles of power, or very sophisticated Israeli intelligence networks in the region.
The implications of Haniyeh’s assassination are far-reaching, extending beyond Hamas and the region; they also affect Israel and its far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has waged a genocidal war in Gaza to free Israeli hostages. Haniyeh was leading diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire that included the release of all hostages, a stated priority for Netanyahu. The Hamas leader’s killing follows the breakdown of several deals due to Israel’s refusal to accept a permanent ceasefire, which would have facilitated the release of the hostages.
Highlighting Haniyeh’s critical role in these delicate negotiations and the potentially devastating impact of his death on peace efforts, Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, expressed deep concern over the killing, stating: ‘How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?’
The political murder of Haniyeh fits a troubling pattern of Israeli behaviour. Political observers have long noted Israel’s fear of what is often referred to as a Palestinian “peace offensive”. Throughout its history as an occupation state, Israel has been accused of targeting moderate Palestinian leaders who show the potential for engaging in meaningful peace negotiations. This strategy, critics argue, is aimed at closing the door to peace and maintaining a state of perpetual conflict that serves Israel’s long-term goal of establishing its illegal sovereignty over all of historic Palestine.
Western sources consistently portrayed Haniyeh as a moderate figure within Hamas. Reuters described him as “relatively pragmatic compared with more hard-line voices inside Gaza,” while Sky News referred to him as “the pragmatic face of Hamas.” Haniyeh was viewed as a potential partner for dialogue, making his assassination all the more significant in terms of its impact on future peace prospects.
Haniyeh’s capacity for pragmatism and negotiation was perhaps most prominently displayed in 2007 when he played a crucial role in securing the release of BBC journalist Alan Johnston, who had been held captive in Gaza for nearly four months. His captors declared themselves to be the “Army of Islam”, a group inspired by Al-Qaida.
Born in 1962 in the Shati (“Beach”) refugee camp north of Gaza City, where he lived until 2019, Haniyeh’s life was shaped from an early age by the Palestinian struggle to end Israel’s illegal occupation. Like the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.2 million people, and every Palestinian leader, Haniyeh’s parents were among those displaced in during the 1948 Nakba when Israel ethnically cleansed more than three quarters of the population of Palestine to artificially create a Jewish majority. Haniyeh pursued his education at the Islamic University of Gaza, where he studied Arabic literature.
In 1988, Haniyeh became one of the founding members of Hamas, a decision that would set the course for his political career. His involvement in the first intifada against Israel’s brutal military occupation led to multiple arrests and imprisonments throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He emerged as a central figure as Palestinians resisted Israel’s occupation, the illegality of which was recognized by the International Court of Justice earlier this month when the world court passed a landmark ruling. The ICJ not only declared Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza to be illegal, but also charged Israel of having imposed conditions of apartheid and called on member states not to aid Israel’s system of ethnic supremacy and racial domination.
In 1992, Haniyeh was among approximately 400 Palestinians exiled by Israel to southern Lebanon, then under Israeli occupation. Contrary to Israel’s intentions and in a blow to its aim of weakening the Palestinians, this forced exile served to internationalize the Palestinian cause and provided Hamas with a global platform.
Haniyeh’s rise within the ranks of Hamas was marked by his close association with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the group’s spiritual leader. He served as Yassin’s personal secretary. In 2006, Haniyeh became the leader of Hamas in Gaza following the group’s victory in the Palestinian Legislative Council election. Despite winning what international observers acknowledged was a free and fair election, Israel and its allies in the West conspired to derail the democratic process, along with the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas.
In 2003, he narrowly escaped death alongside Sheikh Yassin in an Israeli air strike. In 2006, he was targeted again at the Rafah crossing, an attack that Hamas attributed to former Fatah official Mohammad Dahlan.
Haniyeh’s political journey saw him serve briefly as prime minister of a Palestinian unity government in 2006, before Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007. He continued to head the de facto government in Gaza until 2017 when he was elected head of Hamas’ political bureau. In 2019, Haniyeh moved to Qatar, assuming a more prominent role in the group’s international diplomacy.
The assassination of Haniyeh is likely to have far-reaching implications for the region. There are concerns about potential reprisals from Iran, given that the attack took place on Iranian soil. The incident has also dealt a severe blow to ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages. In the aftermath of the assassination many commentators have warned that the killing of Hamas leaders like Haniyeh often leads to the rise of hardliners or the radicalization of moderates.
Critics argue that Benjamin Netanyahu may be deliberately seeking to escalate tensions and spark a regional war. This strategy, they contend, is rooted in the knowledge that the US has pledged “iron-clad” support to Israel, leaving Washington with limited room to manoeuvre in the event of a conflict with Iran. Some observers speculate that Netanyahu’s ultimate aim could be to force the Americans into fighting yet another war on behalf of Israel, leveraging the longstanding alliance between the two nations to further Israeli interests in the region. This approach, if true, carries serious risks for regional stability and could draw multiple countries into a broader conflict.
Hamas as an organization has shown resilience in the face of such targeted killings in the past. The group has consistently managed to regroup and continue its resistance against Israel’s illegal occupation. International law, particularly under the framework of international humanitarian law and human rights law, recognizes the right of peoples to self-determination, which includes the right to resist occupation. This principle is enshrined in various international documents, including the UN Charter and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The right to resist occupation encompasses both peaceful and armed resistance, provided that armed resistance adheres to the laws of armed conflict as stipulated by the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols. This right was again asserted in the ICJ’s ruling this month.
Haniyeh’s murder also represents a significant moment for Palestinians. While his death may have removed a key actor from the Hamas leadership, derailing crucial peace negotiations and efforts to release the hostage — which Israel claims is one of its main aims for the ongoing offensive in Gaza – it is unlikely to dent the resilience of Hamas and the broader Palestinian struggle against Israel’s illegal occupation. The organization’s robust structure enables it to adapt and continue its legitimate resistance to the occupation. As was the case in the past, such actions by Israel often strengthen support for Hamas both domestically and internationally.
Nasim Ahmed is a political analyst
