1. Ismail Haniyeh was a Palestinian politician who served as chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from May 2017 until his assassination in July 2024.
56 Facts About Ismail Haniyeh
1. 2.
Ismail Haniyeh served as prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority from March 2006 until June 2014 and Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip from June 2007 until February 2017, where he was succeeded by Yahya Sinwar.
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Ismail Haniyeh earned a bachelor's degree in Arabic literature from the Islamic University of Gaza in 1987, where he first became involved with Hamas, which was formed during the First Intifada against the Israeli occupation.
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Ismail Haniyeh's involvement led to his imprisonment for three short periods after participating in protests.
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Ismail Haniyeh was appointed to head a Hamas office in 1997 and subsequently rose in the ranks of the organization.
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Ismail Haniyeh was head of the Hamas list that won the Palestinian legislative elections of 2006, which campaigned on armed resistance against Israel, and so became Prime Minister of the State of Palestine.
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Ismail Haniyeh was the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip from 2006 until February 2017, when he was replaced by Yahya Sinwar.
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Ismail Haniyeh was seen by many diplomats as one of the more pragmatic and moderate figures in Hamas.
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On 6 May 2017, Ismail Haniyeh was elected chairman of Hamas's Political Bureau, replacing Khaled Mashal; at the time, Ismail Haniyeh relocated from the Gaza Strip to Qatar.
10.
On 31 July 2024, Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated by an explosive device planted in his guesthouse in Tehran, likely by Israeli Mossad agents.
11.
Ismail Abdulsalam Ahmed Haniyeh was born to a family of Muslim Palestinians in the al-Shati refugee camp of the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip.
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Ismail Haniyeh's parents were expelled or fled from Ashkelon during the 1948 Palestine war, part of the territory where Israel was then established.
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Ismail Haniyeh played as a midfielder in the Islamic Association football team.
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Ismail Haniyeh graduated at about the time that the First Intifada against the Israeli occupation broke out, during which he participated in protests against Israel.
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Ismail Haniyeh participated in protests in the First Intifada and was given a short prison sentence by an Israeli military court.
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Ismail Haniyeh was detained by Israel again in 1988 and imprisoned for six months.
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Ismail Haniyeh was targeted by the Israel Defense Forces for his alleged involvement in attacks against Israeli citizens.
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In December 2005, Ismail Haniyeh was elected to head the Hamas list, which won the Legislative Council elections the following month.
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Ismail Haniyeh succeeded Khaled Mashaal's head leadership of Hamas in elections held in 2016.
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Ismail Haniyeh was nominated as prime minister on 16 February 2006 following the Hamas "List of Change and Reform" victory on 25 January 2006.
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Ismail Haniyeh was formally presented to president Mahmoud Abbas on 20 February and was sworn in on 29 March 2006.
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Ismail Haniyeh dismissed the sanctions, stating that Hamas would neither disarm nor would it recognize Israel.
23.
Ismail Haniyeh expressed regret that Hamas was subjected to punitive measures, adding that "it [Israel] should have responded differently to the democracy expressed by the Palestinian people".
24.
Several months after Hamas' 2006 election victory, Haniyeh sent a letter to US President George W Bush, in which he called on the "American government to have direct negotiations with the elected government", offered a long-term truce with Israel, while accepting a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and urged an end to the international boycott, claiming that it would "encourage violence and chaos".
25.
On 20 October 2006, on the eve of this deal to end factional fighting between Fatah and Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh's convoy came under gunfire in Gaza and one of the cars was set on fire.
26.
Ismail Haniyeh was returning to Gaza from his first official trip abroad as prime minister.
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Ismail Haniyeh was carrying an estimated US$30 million in cash, intended for Palestinian Authority payments.
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When Ismail Haniyeh later attempted to cross the border, an exchange of gunfire left one bodyguard dead and Ismail Haniyeh's eldest son wounded.
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Hamas denounced the incident as an attempt by rival Fatah on Ismail Haniyeh's life, prompting firefights in the West Bank and Gaza Strip between Hamas and Fatah forces.
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Ismail Haniyeh was quoted as saying that he knew who the alleged perpetrators were, but declined to identify them and appealed for Palestinian unity.
31.
Ismail Haniyeh resigned on 15 February 2007 as part of the process to form a national unity government between Hamas and Fatah.
32.
Ismail Haniyeh formed a new government on 18 March 2007 as head of a new cabinet that included Fatah as well as Hamas politicians.
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Ismail Haniyeh was dismissed and Abbas ruled Gaza and the West Bank by presidential decree.
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In February 2020, Ismail Haniyeh met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan; the meeting was criticised by the US State Department.
35.
On 26 July 2023, Ismail Haniyeh met with Erdogan and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
36.
On 7 October 2023, the day of the Hamas-led attack on Israel, Ismail Haniyeh was in Istanbul, Turkey.
37.
On 15 October 2023, The Times of Israel reported that Ismail Haniyeh "was politely sent away" from Turkey; Turkey officially denied these reports.
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Ismail Haniyeh later met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Doha.
39.
On 21 October 2023, Ismail Haniyeh spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the latest developments in the Gaza war and the current situation in Gaza.
40.
Ismail Haniyeh was seen as relatively one of the more pragmatic and moderate figures in Hamas.
41.
In March 2002, during the Second Intifada, Ismail Haniyeh was quoted as saying, "Jews love life more than any other people, and they prefer not to die," reflecting the view that Palestinian suicide bombings had exposed Israel's greatest vulnerability after years of conflict.
42.
On 1 November 2023, Ismail Haniyeh accused Israel of committing "barbaric massacres against unarmed civilians" after Israel conducted an attack on the Jabalia refugee camp in an operation targeting senior Hamas member Ibrahim Biari, and resolved that fighting would continue until "Palestinians obtain their 'legitimate rights to freedom, independence and return'".
43.
Ismail Haniyeh instead referred to bin Laden as an "Arab holy warrior" and condemned his killing as "the continuation of the American oppression and shedding of blood of Muslims and Arabs".
44.
Ismail Haniyeh was married and had 13 children, three of whom were killed in 2024.
45.
In 2010, Ismail Haniyeh purchased a 2,500-square-metre parcel of land in Rimal, a Gaza City beachfront neighborhood.
46.
Ismail Haniyeh registered the land in the name of his son-in-law.
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Subsequently, Ismail Haniyeh reportedly purchased additional homes and registered them under the names of his children.
48.
Ismail Haniyeh's granddaughter was treated in an Israeli hospital in November 2013 and his mother-in-law was treated in an Israeli hospital in June 2014.
49.
In September 2016, Ismail Haniyeh left Gaza with his wife and two of his sons for the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, known as the Hajj.
50.
Ismail Haniyeh went to Qassim Suleimani's funeral, in Tehran, Iran in 2020.
51.
In November 2023, his granddaughter Roaa Ismail Haniyeh was reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City.
52.
Israel claimed Ismail Haniyeh's sons were "Hamas operatives" and were "on their way to carry out terrorist activities".
53.
On 25 June 2024, ten members of his family, including his 80-year-old sister Zahr Abdel Salam Ismail Haniyeh, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in al-Shati refugee camp.
54.
On 31 July 2024, Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, where he was attending the inauguration of newly elected President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian.
55.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran said that Ismail Haniyeh was killed by "a short-range projectile carrying about 7kg [15.4lb] of explosive materials" that was launched from outside the building he was staying in.
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Ismail Haniyeh's remains were then taken to Qatar and buried in Lusail the following day.