New Delhi: Ismail Haniyeh, chairman of Hamas’ political bureau, was assassinated in Tehran, Iranian state media announced Wednesday.
Haniyeh, who was in Iran for the inauguration of newly-elected President Masoud Pezeshkian, had shared the stage with Nitin Gadkari, India’s Minister of Road Transport and Highways.
According to a statement from the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Haniyeh and a bodyguard were killed in their residence during the early hours of Wednesday, likely via a loitering munition.
Hamas on Telegram accused Israel of orchestrating the strike and has promised revenge, while Iran has declared that his blood will not “go in vain”.
Tel Aviv has not spoken about the strike, which came hours after Haniyeh and a representative from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad met with the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khameini, and was part of the photo of leaders’ attending Pezeshkian’s inauguration.
Representatives from Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen, Hamas and different Tehran-backed proxy groups made a bee-line to Tehran for the event.
“This is a disaster for Iran, especially on its claims of domestic security. If they cannot even protect a state guest attending the President’s swearing-in ceremony, it is a bad look for the security structure of the country. It also shows that any leader visiting Iran cannot be secure,” explained Muddassir Quamar, an associate professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Quamar added: “There will be some kind of response (from Iran) to balance the situation. It may look at trying something in a third country as it would prefer to not start a direct escalation with Israel.”
Earlier in April, Tehran had launched hundreds of missiles at Israel, after two of its senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders were killed in an attack on a diplomatic compound in Damascus, Syria.
Haniyeh was a key figure in the negotiations between Tel Aviv and Hamas over a ceasefire to end the almost nine-month conflict in the Gaza Strip, which has seen close to 40,000 Palestinians killed according to Gazan health authorities.
“Ismail Haniyeh was a pivotal figure in Palestinian politics, and his assassination is likely to have significant implications for the leadership structure within Hamas. It also threatens to derail the ongoing ceasefire negotiations. Haniyeh had engaged with several regional leaders in recent months,” explained Nadeem Ahmed Moonakal, a research scholar at the International Institute for Iranian Studies (Rasanah), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Moonakal added: “The ramifications of Haniyeh’s assassination extend beyond immediate violence; it may deepen regional instability, complicate diplomatic efforts, and exacerbate the ongoing tension, with potential impacts on broader regional security dynamics.”
The current conflict started after Hamas attacked the Israeli mainland on 7 October 2023, which saw nearly 1,150 Israelis killed and around 250 taken hostage by the militant outfit. Israel’s retaliation has seen wide swathes of Gaza turned into rubble. Haniyeh, based out of Qatar, was among important Hamas figures outside of Gaza.
His assassination came hours after Israel announced that it had targeted Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah commander, in a separate strike in Southern Beirut. Tel Aviv claims it killed Shukr, while Hezbollah is yet to confirm his death. The attack on Shukr is a part of Israel’s retaliation to a rocket strike that killed 12 people, primarily children, in the Golan Heights Saturday.
The fast movement of events since Saturday has seen an increase in tensions in the region, which appears to be on the precipice of a larger regional war, one that global leaders have tried to prevent since the weekend.
The Supreme National Security Council of Iran held an emergency meeting at the house of Ayatollah Khameini to discuss a response to the killing of an ally in Tehran. The security implications of the killing are the first challenge the new Iranian president has to face on day-one of his term.
Increased support for Palestine
The killing of Haniyeh may give the Palestinian movement more support across countries in the region, given that martyrdom has helped rally support for militant outfits like Hezbollah and Hamas in the past.
“Despite political differences, the killing of Haniyeh is likely to further galvanise support for Palestinians in the Arab street, as it will be perceived as a matter of honour. If Iranian proxies and allies escalate their actions in response, they may gain increased support in the current climate,” said Moonakal.
He added: “Historically, martyrdom has strengthened regional narratives and rallied support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, intensifying solidarity and reinforcing their standing in the face of Israeli aggression.”
However, the killing of Haniyeh works well for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal of total destruction of Hamas publicly. While there is no confirmation from Tel Aviv, all fingers are pointed at its ruling dispensation for the assassination, given it has a track record of targeting the leadership of the militant outfits targeting them.
“Hamas, however, is not finished by Ismail Haniyeh’s killing. It has been severely weakened since the conflict in Gaza began, and with Haniyeh’s death, further weakened, but it may not finish the organisation,” Quamar said.
Moonakal added that even in the past, Israel has struck at the Hamas leadership “including the assassinations of key figures like Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi who were the founders of Hamas”.
Who was Ismail Haniyeh
Born in the al-Shati refugee camp, Haniyeh, who was 62 at the time of his death, was one of the earliest members of Hamas, joining the group in the late 1980s. He was considered to be the overall leader of the militant outfit.
Haniyeh is reported to have studied in Gaza’s education system managed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and later at the Islamic University of Gaza. He was detained by Israel in 1989 for three years.
After an Israeli border guard was kidnapped in 1992, Tel Aviv expelled close to 400 Palestinians to Southern Lebanon. It was here, specifically at the Marj Ez-Zouhour Camp, where Haniyeh came in contact with Hezbollah and its leadership and through them with the leadership in Tehran.
He was appointed the head of the office of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in 1997. In 2003, Haniyeh survived an assassination attempt, when Israel targeted him and Yassin. The Hamas spiritual leader was later killed by Israel in 2004.
In 2006, Haniyeh was appointed as Prime Minister of Palestine by President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) after Hamas emerged as the largest party in the Palestinian elections. A year later, however, he was dismissed by Abu Mazen, after Hamas violently ejected Fatah, Abbas’ party, from the Gaza Strip.
In 2017, he was appointed head of Hamas’ political bureau and in 2018 was designated a terrorist by the US.
He left Gaza in 2019 via Egypt for a foreign tour and remained outside of the territory till his death. His assassination has been condemned by countries including Türkiye and Qatar – indicating the regional support he had slowly built over the years.
Earlier in April, three of Haniyeh’s sons were killed by an Israeli airstrike in the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza. At the time, he had said that Israel was “delusional” if it believed targeting his family members would change Hamas’ negotiating position.
“The assassination of Haniyeh, along with the previous targeting of his family members, reinforces Netanyahu’s rhetoric and could severely disrupt ceasefire talks,” said Moonakal.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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