Ismail Haniyeh: From Al-Shati Camp to Martyrdom in Tehran

The radical leaders of Tel Aviv, who have suffered heavy defeats against the resistance groups in the region in the past 9 months, have turned to blind assassinations of the resistance figures to escape from this situation.

In this regard, hours after the Israeli drones and fighter jets failed to assassinate Fawad Shekar, one of the Lebanese Hezbollah commanders in the south of Beirut, the Israeli occupation in a cowardly and criminal act assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of Hamas, at 2:00 AM on Wednesday in Tehran. 

The public relations of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced in a statement that Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were martyred when their residence was hit in Tehran.

Haniyeh had traveled to Tehran on Tuesday to join the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian President Masoud Mezikian, but it seems that his fate was such that he would spend the last day of his life in a country that was the biggest supporter of the Palestinian cause in the past 46 years without any political expectations. 

Who was Haniyeh? 

Ismail Haniyeh, also nicknamed Abul Abd, was the head of the political office of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and one of the popular leaders of the resistance who became a well-known figure in the world after Operation Al-Aqsa Storm and the Israeli regime put him on the hit list.

Haniyeh was born in 1963 in the Al-Shati Camp in Gaza and from his childhood he felt the poverty and hunger resulting from the Israeli occupation. When the Israeli regime occupied Gaza and the West Bank in the 1967 war, Haniyeh tasted Israeli occupation.

In such atmosphere of insecurity, Haniyeh concluded his elementary and secondary grades in UNRWA-run schools. He completed his highschool in religious school of Al-Azhar in Gaza, and in 1981, he was admitted to Gaza Islamic University and joined the Islamic society of the university. He was a member of the university's student council from 1983 to 1984 and the president of the university's student council from 1985 to 1986.

Haniyeh was appointed as the head of the Hamas office in 1997, won parliamentary elections in 2006 and became the tenth prime minister of Palestine and held this position until 2007.

He, who graduated almost at the same time as the beginning of the first intifada, participated in the demonstrations of the first intifada and was sentenced to prison by the military court of the Israeli regime. He was imprisoned for three years in 1989 and after his release, in 1992, the Israeli military sent him to exile in Lebanon along with Abd al-Aziz al-Rentisi and Mahmoud al-Zahar and 400 other senior Hamas leaders.

These activists stayed for more than a year in Marj al-Zahur in southern Lebanon, where Hamas received unprecedented media focus and worldwide recognition. Haniyeh returned to Gaza a year later and was appointed as the president of the Islamic University.

The Israeli regime attempted to assassinate Haniyeh in 2003, but failed. 

During the Israeli regime's attacks on Gaza, three of his sons and three grandsons were martyred in an airstrike on April 10. When the news of his children's martyrdom was given to him, Haniyeh calmly said: "I am grateful to God for the honor he bestowed on us with the martyrdom of my three sons and several grandsons. With this pain and blood, we create hope, future and freedom for our people, cause and nation."

Reactions by resistance groups 

The announcement of the assassination of Haniyeh unleashed a wave of reactions from the resistance groups.

Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority, condemned this assassination and called the Palestinian people and forces to unity and steadfastness.

Moussi Abu Marzouq, a member of the Hamas political office, said: "The assassination of the leader of Ismail Haniyeh was a cowardly act that will not go unanswered."

Sami Abu Zuhari, one of the other leaders of Hamas, maintained: "We are fighting an open war for the freedom of Al-Quds and we are ready to pay various costs." 

"Martyr Ismail Haniyeh gave his most valuable asset to the cause of Palestine," said Maher al-Taher, head of international relations of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Stating that the Axis of Resistance is fully ready for the confrontation, al-Tahar said: "The occupying entity will regret the sin it committed by assassinating Ismail Haniyeh and attacking Iran's sovereignty. The Israeli enemy has crossed all the red lines and is pushing everything towards an all-out war with the entire Axis of Resistance."

Mohammad al-Hindi, deputy head of the Islamic Jihad, held that Martyrdom of Haniyeh marks a "great loss" for the nation of Palestine.

The head of the Palestinian National Initiative emphasized that the assassination of Haniyeh is "a crime that increases the determination and struggle of our people for their rights." 

The resistance committees in Palestine announced that "we adhere to our commitment to Martyr Ismail Haniyeh and all the martyrs who were martyred on the blessed path of defense of our holy sanctities and cause. The assassination operation of the great leader and symbol of the Palestinian people and their resistance will not weaken the support of the resistance... The Zionist enemy does not learn from what happened during this confrontation because the policy of terror increases the strength and stability of the resistance in all fields."

Additionally, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine asserted that Haniyeh "followed the path of martyrs in the struggle to defend the existence of Palestine against the Israeli genocide. The group called on the Palestinian nation and Arab and Muslim nations and free people of the world to "rise against the criminal enemy that continues its crimes to set fire to the whole region and the world." 

At the same time, calls for public strike across Palestinian have been made in protest to the assassination. 

Global reactions 

In addition to the resistance groups, some countries also condemned the assassination of Haniyeh. Nasser Kanani, the spokesman of Iran's Foreign Ministry, referring to the ongoing investigation of the dimensions of the assassination of the head of Hamas's political bureau by the relevant Iranian institutions, said: "The martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh will strengthen the unbreakable bond between Iran and Palestine and the resistance."

"We condemn the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh as a result of a hateful assassination in Tehran. Once again, it became clear that Netanyahu's government has no intention of peace," said Turkish Foreign Ministry in a statement. 

The Russian Foreign Ministry also considered the assassination of the head of Hamas's political office to be a" completely unacceptable political crime", and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov announced that this unacceptable assassination will lead to an increase in tensions.

Konstantin Kosachev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation Council, commented Beirut and Tehran attacks, adding: "Mutual hatred is expected to intensify in the Middle East." He added in a Telegram post that Israel's attacks on the positions of Hezbollah and Hamas in Beirut and Tehran will inevitably strengthen the ranks of the anti-Israeli resistance in the world.

Chinese Foreign Ministry in a message said that Beijing strongly condemns the assassination of Haniyeh. 

Qatari Foreign Ministry in a statement said that the "assassination of Ismail Haniyeh is a heinous crime, a dangerous escalation and a clear violation of international and humanitarian laws."

Jordan stated that "we strongly condemn the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh by Israel. This assassination is a violation of international humanitarian law and an aggravated crime that will lead to more tension and chaos in the region."

Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden, in an X message wrote:" Forget the ceasefire. Retaliatory measures and escalation of tensions are in the center of attention. I think we need to tighten our belts."

For his part, the head of Supreme Political Council of Yemen Mahdi al-Mashat, said that the martyrdom of Haniyeh is a "great loss for the Palestinian nation and all the Muslim nations."

"We condemn the heinous crime of assassination by the Israeli enemy, which since October 7 has been wallowing in its abject defeat at all levels. The Zionist and American enemies must take responsibility for expanding the scope of war and confrontation and the wave of assassination of resistance leaders," al-Mashat said, announcing three years of national mourning in Yemen and flying the flags at half mast. 

Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, a leader from Yemen's Ansarullah Movement, said that "the assassination of brother Ismail Haniyeh is a terrorist crime and a clear violation of the law. We are determined to stand by Hamas and all resistance factions in confronting the American-backed Zionist actions."

Dhayfallah al-Shami, the intelligence chief of Ansarullah-affiliated National Salvation Government in Sana'a, sent his condolences for the martyrdom of Haniyeh to the Palestinians, Muslim nations, and Axis of Resistance." Aggression at Beirut and Tehran sends a message about the necessity of standing behind the Axis of Resistance," he noted.

The Association of Yemeni Scholars emphasized that the assassination of Haniyeh and the leaders of Axis of Resistance "will only increase the strength and stability of the Axis on the way to Al-Quds." 

Caretaker Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that Beirut strongly condemns the assassination of Haniyeh and "we see a serious danger of expansion of confrontation behind this action."

In a statement condemning the Israeli crime, Lebanese Hezbollah said: "We, along with our brothers in Hamas, feel proud that the leaders of our movements, the people and the fighters are being martyred, and the people feel confident in the divine promise of victory." Hezbollah added that Haniyeh's martyrdom will sharpen the determination and tenacity of resistance fighters in all areas to continue the path of struggle.

The Islamic Society of Lebanon, too, reacted to the Israeli crime, saying that Haniyeh was a martyr in the path of liberation of Palestine. 

Ammar Hakim, the head of National Wisedom Movement of Iraq, in a message expressed his condolences to the patient people of Palestine and resistance groups, adding: "These criminal actions of the occupying regime are too weak to deter the Palestinian nation from continuing to advance in the path of victory for its just cause." 

The interim government of Taliban in Afghanistan said that Haniyeh martyrdom was a great loss to the Muslim nations and the continued Israeli crimes only send the region into further chaos.