Produced by: Tarun Mishra
Ismail Haniyeh, a prominent leader of Hamas, was killed in an attack at his residence in Tehran, Iran. The 62-year-old and one of his bodyguards were reportedly killed in what Hamas described as a "treacherous Zionist raid."
The attack on Haniyeh's residence occurred shortly after he attended the inauguration ceremony of Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian and met with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Hamas attributed the raid to Israeli forces.
Haniyeh was known for his role as a negotiator in the Israel-Gaza conflict and was perceived by some diplomats as a moderate compared to other Hamas members. He played a significant role in Hamas's international diplomacy efforts.
Ismail Haniyeh was born in 1963 in Gaza's Shati refugee camp. He joined Hamas in the late 1980s and quickly ascended to leadership, becoming the group's top leader in 2017. He was initially a close associate of Hamas's founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
Haniyeh was active as a student at the Islamic University in Gaza City and joined Hamas during the First Palestinian Intifada in 1987.
He served multiple prison sentences in Israeli jails during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1992, he was arrested and deported from Gaza to Lebanon but returned to Gaza the following year.
Haniyeh was instrumental in building Hamas’s fighting capacity and fostering ties with Iran. In 2017, he led a Hamas delegation to Iran and met with Khamenei. He became the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority after Hamas won the 2006 legislative elections but was dismissed by President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.
On April 10, three of his sons—Hazem, Amir, and Mohammad—were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Haniyeh also lost four grandchildren in the same attack. Haniyeh denied that his sons were involved in terrorist activities, as claimed by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
On October 7, when Hamas launched an attack on Israel, Ismail Haniyeh was observed celebrating in Turkey while watching the events unfold on live television. He reportedly prayed for the success of Hamas's assault. The attack resulted in the deaths of over 1,000 Israeli citizens, numerous instances of sexual violence, and the abduction of more than 200 individuals.