Ismail Haniyeh, Israel's Number One Target
Ismail Haniyeh's family was killed by Israeli attacks. Why does Israel always target Haniyeh's surroundings for elimination?
This article has been translated using AI. See Original .
About AI Translated Article
Please note that this article was automatically translated using Microsoft Azure AI, Open AI, and Google Translation AI. We cannot ensure that the entire content is translated accurately. If you spot any errors or inconsistencies, contact us at hotline@kompas.id, and we'll make every effort to address them. Thank you for your understanding.
The photo released by the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran on June 21, 2023, shows Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (right) conversing with Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh (center) and Hamas Political Bureau Deputy Saleh al-Arouri in Tehran, Iran.
Eid al-Fitr 1445 Hijriah will be a day that will never be forgotten by Ismail Haniyeh, one of the leaders of Hamas. Instead of beautiful memories full of warmth with family members, Haniyeh will remember them as moments full of heart-wrenching sadness.
Seven members of his family were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the first day of Eid al-Fitr, Wednesday (10/4/2024). Three of Haniyeh's sons who were Israel's main targets died in the attack, namely Hazem, Amir and Mohammad.
Ironically, Haniyeh's four grandchildren were also among the casualties of the attack that occurred in the Al-Shati refugee camp in the west of Gaza. They are Mona, Amal, Khaled, and Razan. Although in its official statement Hamas did not disclose the age of the four grandchildren who died, it is strongly suspected that they were still under 17 years old.
Israel claimed that the attack had to be carried out because the three boys of Haniyeh were members of the Hamas militant group. According to Al Jazeera, Tel Aviv also accused them of planning to carry out acts of terrorism in the central area of the Gaza Strip.
However, according to Haniyeh's statement, they simply intended to visit relatives in the Al-Shati refugee camp to celebrate Eid al-Fitr together. He also denied that his three sons were part of the Hamas militia group.
Foreign Minister of Iran, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, welcomed the arrival of Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh at the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs office in Tehran, Iran on March 26th, 2024.
Regardless of who claims to be the most right, it is clear that this incident adds to the long list of Haniyeh family members who have passed away due to the Israeli military's attack. Haniyeh admitted to Al Jazeera that he has lost 60 of his family members since the war broke out half a year ago.
In the first month of the war, in October 2023, Haniyeh had to swallow a bitter pill when an Israeli air strike killed at least 14 members of his family, including his brother and cousin.
A month later, it was reported that he lost a granddaughter who was volunteering at a hospital in Gaza. Shortly thereafter, in December 2023, Haniyeh had to once again accept the death of his grandson, Jamal Mohammed Haniyeh, who was also a sports journalist in Gaza.
A number of residents witnessed vehicles that became victims of Israel's air strike in Al Shati, west of Gaza City, on Wednesday (10/4/2024). Three children of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh died in the Israeli attack.
Israel's main target
His unwavering attitude in facing the loss of his family members, including his own child, cannot be separated from his life background. Ismail Haniyeh is the child of a pair of Palestinians who had to become refugees due to the "Nakba" in 1948.
Nakba, which in Arabic means "catastrophe", is the term used by Palestinians to refer to the event of almost one million Palestinians being expelled from their homeland during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Nakba also marked the beginning of the endless conflict between Palestine and Israel.
The issue of air pollution is not a new one. The community has long been threatened by air pollution. There is a significant amount of research evidence indicating the dangers of air pollution. However, despite this, there has been little effort to control air pollution. As a result, residents continue to suffer in the midst of air pollution. The Al-Shati refugee camp, where three children and four grandchildren were killed, is also the birthplace of Haniyeh. He was born on January 29, 1962 and grew up with his three sisters in the third largest refugee camp in Gaza. The family's needs and early education were supported by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which manages the camp.
Afterwards, Haniyeh continued his education at the Islamic University of Gaza and enrolled in the Arabic Literature program. It was at this point where he began honing his leadership skills and his spirit of resistance against Israel.
Haniyeh was asked to become chairman of the student council in 1985-1986 which was affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Reporting from The Belfast Telegraph, he also expanded his social net by joining the Islamic Association football club as a central midfielder.
Palestinian children received food gifts after performing Eid al-Fitr prayers in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday (10/4/2024). Israel launched deadly attacks against Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh's family during Eid al-Fitr.
Haniyeh, Intifada, and Hamas
Young Haniyeh graduated from university in 1987. As if it was destined, his graduation coincided with one of the historic milestones of the Palestinian struggle: the eruption of the 1987-1993 Intifada. That Intifada was the first time that the Palestinian people launched a large-scale rebellion against the Israeli occupation.
In this tumultuous moment, Hamas was born as a group of the Palestinian independence movement. The Britannica Encyclopedia mentions that young Haniyeh was involved in the formation of Hamas along with other senior movement figures.
He also actively participated in various protests launched by Hamas against Israeli security forces. Not surprisingly, Haniyeh was arrested and detained by Israeli authorities. Between 1987-1989, Haniyeh was recorded to have entered and exited Israeli prisons three times, with a total incarceration period of 3.5 years.
When released in 1992, Israel deported Haniyeh along with 400 activists to Lebanon. Who would have thought that the exile would actually provide him with an opportunity to get closer to the top leadership of Hamas. That's because there were several elite Hamas figures included in the exile group, such as Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi and Mahmoud al-Zahar.
After a year in exile, Haniyeh finally got the chance to return to Gaza in late 1993. He was then appointed as the dean at the Islamic University of Gaza. He utilized his position to lead the Hamas student movement.
The Hamas delegation led by Ismail Haniyeh (three from the right) met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian (three from the left) in Tehran, Iran on March 26, 2024.
The turning point in his political career began when the founder and spiritual leader of Hamas, Ahmed Yassin, was released by Israel in 1997. Prior to that, Yassin had been sentenced to 40 years in prison in 1989 for planning the murder of an Israeli soldier.
Yassin then appointed Haniyeh as his personal secretary. He did not waste this opportunity to build the closest possible relationship with the most influential Hamas figure. In a short time, Haniyeh gained trust among the Hamas elite. This was evidenced when he was often asked to represent Hamas in front of the Palestinian Authority Government.
Haniyeh's proximity to Hamas' elite circle apparently also made him experience Israel's brutality in eradicating enemies. In September 2003, while with Yassin, Haniyeh almost died in an Israeli air strike.
Six months later, Yassin was finally killed after being shot by an Israeli AH-64 Apache combat helicopter following his morning prayer in March 2004. Only a month later, the next Hamas leader, Al-Rantisi, was killed by Israel in a similar manner.
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah (right) and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh raise their hands during a meeting in Gaza City on October 2, 2017.
Taking the steps to become the leader of Hamas
Although one by one the leaders of Hamas have been targeted and eliminated by Israel, Haniyeh is not intimidated. He remains firmly entrenched in the circle of Hamas political elite. The US media outlet PBS reports that at this time, Haniyeh, along with Mahmoud Zahhar and Said al-Siyam, has been referred to as part of the Hamas "collective leadership."
Two years after Yassin's death, Haniyeh's political career began to reach its peak. At that time, Hamas won the most votes in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections. Haniyeh, as Hamas' leader in the election, was then appointed as the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority on March 29, 2006.
Also read: 27 Deadliest Days in Gaza
However, a difference of opinion between Hamas and the more moderate Fatah has made the Haniyeh cabinet's government not run smoothly. This is due to the Hamas and Haniyeh principles that strongly oppose Israel. Efforts to unite these two dominant factions were sought through the Mecca Agreement in February 2007.
However, the hope of this fragile unity finally completely disappeared when the Hamas-Fatah war erupted in June 2007. The results of this conflict gave birth to two suns that ruled Palestine at the same time. On the one hand, Hamas has managed to become the sole ruler of the Gaza Strip, while on the other hand Fatah continues to maintain its authority in the West Bank.
Palestinian families rode motorcycles as they moved to safer areas following the resumption of Israel's attacks on Rafah in the Gaza Strip on December 1, 2023.
Haniyeh, who at that time still claimed to be the legitimate prime minister, effectively became the highest leader of the government in the Gaza Strip. He only returned his position as prime minister to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) in 2014. Nevertheless, Haniyeh still controlled the government in the Gaza Strip until 2017 before being replaced by Yahya Sinwar.
During his 10-year term in Gaza, there were at least three major conflicts between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip. The first was a one-month war in December 2008-January 2009. Subsequently, war broke out again for eight days in November 2012.
Also read: The Bitterness of Living in an "Open Prison" in the Gaza Strip
The next big and deadliest battle erupted in July-August 2014. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Palestine, the three open conflicts claimed at least 3,804 Palestinian civilian lives and injured another 17,577.
The three major wars were seen as sufficient proof of Haniyeh's capability in leading Hamas and the struggle for Palestinian independence. Finally, in 2017, Haniyeh was elected to replace Khaled Mashal as the head of Hamas' Political Bureau, the highest structural position in the resistance organization.
A man walks past the Israeli police station in Sderot that was damaged during the battle to expel Hamas fighters inside on October 8, 2023.
Expert in diplomacy and gathering strength
Aside from security reasons, Haniyeh is seen to choose to reside outside of Gaza to freely garner political support from countries in the region. He is known to be close to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tammim bin Hamad Al-Thani. Haniyeh is also reportedly building relations with fellow extremist group Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar.
Apart from that, Haniyeh also has strong ties to Iran's power elite. He demonstrated this when attending the funeral of Iranian Quds Force Commander Major General Qassem Soleimani in 2020 who was killed by a United States drone strike.
Also read: Tracking the Origin of Weapons in the Gaza War
This closeness apparently resulted in Iran's support for Hamas. In an interview with Al Jazeera in 2022, Haniyeh said that Iran had provided assistance amounting to 70 million US dollars for the development of Hamas missiles and security systems. The Economists said that in the 2021 Palestine-Israel conflict, Hamas was able to fire 390 rockets per day or three times more than in 2014.
In addition to increasing the supply of weapons, Haniyeh is also seen as having successfully modernized the armed forces of Hamas. The BBC reported that since 2018, Haniyeh has been vigorously conducting war exercises and forming a central command with 10 other armed Palestinian factions.
The devastation caused by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip is seen in Ashkelon, Israel, on October 9, 2023. The Israeli military is fighting to drive Hamas fighters out of southern cities.
His success in diplomacy and gathering of strength then led him back to secure his position as Chairman of Hamas Political Bureau. He won unanimous votes in the internal election of 2021 without any opposition.
After 2021, Haniyeh is inclined to focus on the strengthening of Hamas' military power and relations with Iran. He was also involved in talks with Abbas in July 2023 regarding the reformation of a united government and general elections (Kompas.id, 31/7/2023).
Also read: The World Urges a Ceasefire for Gaza
Haniyeh, as the main leader of Hamas, praised the success of the attack and said it was a warning against threats to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the blockade of Gaza, and the normalization of diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab countries (Kompas, 9/10 /2023).
Palestinian Hamas official, Ismail Haniyeh, shakes hands with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Khaled Fawzi, in Gaza, October 3, 2017.
Although so, as the war continues and brings total destruction to Gaza, Haniyeh was criticized for not being present in the battlefield. Hamas' attacks that claimed many civilian casualties eventually led Turkey to ask Haniyeh and other Hamas elites to leave the country.
Currently, although it has been running for six months, there are no signs that the battle will end soon. With casualties on the Palestinian side reaching 33,000 people, Haniyeh seems to realize that the war he started is more than he can bear. He is now actively seeking ways for a ceasefire to be achieved soon.
Also read: Waiting for Peace for Gaza in the Month of Ramadan
