“It is Allah who gives life and causes death. And Allah is all-aware of all actions” – Ismail Haniyeh
As if sensing his fate, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s final words to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Ali Khamenei before his assassination in Tehran were a Quranic verse that spoke of life, death, immortality, and resilience, Reuters news agency reported.
“It is Allah who gives life and causes death. And Allah is all-aware of all actions … ‘If a leader leaves, another will arise’,” Haniyeh reportedly said in Arabic on Tuesday. The comment was reportedly aired on television as Haniyeh addressed Khamenei.
Only a few hours later, in the early hours of Wednesday, July 31, he was killed in an Israeli strike on his guest house.
A Palestinian Refugee
Haniyeh was born on January 23, 1962, in the Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.
His family originated from the village of Al-Jura, near the city of Asqalan, which was mostly destroyed and completely ethnically cleansed during the Nakba in 1948.
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Haniyeh completed his early education in United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools and graduated from Al-Azhar Institute before earning a BA in Arabic Literature from the Islamic University of Gaza in 1987.
During his university years, he was active in the Student Union Council and later held various positions at the Islamic University, eventually becoming its dean in 1992.
Following his release from an Israeli prison in 1997, Haniyeh became the head of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin’s office.
Political Life
Haniyeh’s political experience includes multiple arrests by Israeli authorities during the First Intifada, with charges related to his involvement with the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas.
He was exiled to southern Lebanon in 1992 but returned to Gaza after the Oslo Accords.
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Haniyeh led the ‘Change and Reform List’, which won the majority in the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council elections, leading to his appointment as the head of the Palestinian government in February 2006.
He later played a role in national reconciliation efforts, which led to the formation of a unity government in June 2014.
Haniyeh was elected head of Hamas’s political bureau in May 2017.
Al-Aqsa Flood
On October 7, 2023, the Al-Qassam Brigades, led by Mohammed Deif, launched the Al-Aqsa Flood operation against Israel.
In the genocidal Israel war that followed, Haniyeh suffered personal losses, including the killings of several family members due to Israeli airstrikes.
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After their deaths, Haniyeh stated, “The blood of my children is not more valuable than the blood of the children of the Palestinian people … All the martyrs of Palestine are my children.”
“Through the blood of the martyrs and the pain of the injured, we create hope, we create the future, we create independence and freedom for our people,” he continued.
“We say to the occupation that this blood will only make us more steadfast in our principles and attachment to our land.”
(PC, Reuters)
It’s commonly the way with resistance groups. Killing the leader does not stop the group, because another rises to take his or her place.