Reports: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed

 

Hamas supremo Ismail Haniyeh was killed in his residence in Tehran, Iran.

According to Bernama, Hamas blamed it on "a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran".

"Hamas mourns our great Palestinian people, to the Arab and Islamic nations and to all the free people of the world, the martyr, the Mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement, who was killed in a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran after participating in the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president," Hamas said in a statement on Telegram.

Al Jazeera reported Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as saying that Ismail was assassinated alongside one of his bodyguards and has launched an investigation into the matter.

Ismail was in Iran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the country’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian.

The Israeli regime has yet to provide an official response to the matter.

It is to note that earlier, Ismail had proposed Aug 3 to be named as a solidarity day for Gaza and Palestinians languishing in Israeli jails.

With that, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang instructed party members to conduct prayer sessions that day.

On April 10, an air strike by the Israeli regime in Gaza killed Ismail’s three sons; Hazem, Amir and Mohammad, along with four of his grandchildren.

The incident drew criticism from various quarters, including Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Moderate voice

Ismail, 62, was born in the al-Shati refugee camp in the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip in 1962.

He was involved in the pro-Palestinian cause from his university days and joined Hamas when it was established in the First Palestinian intifada (uprising) in 1987.

He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Arabic Literature the same year.

Working his way up in the Hamas’ ranks, Ismail finally became the head of its political bureau in 2016.

According to Reuters, Ismail was seen as a moderate voice within the group by diplomats despite his tough rhetoric.

In 2012, when asked by Reuters reporters if Hamas had abandoned the armed struggle, Ismail replied, "Of course not", and said resistance would continue "in all forms - popular resistance, political, diplomatic and military resistance". - Mkini