Gaza War Updates : Hamas’s commander in exile, Ismail Haniyeh, maintained the terrorist organization’s connections with sympathizers around the area and served as its public face on a global scale. He played little military role as the head of its political hierarchy, although Israel designated him for murder following the unexpected assaults on October 7.
After witnessing Iran’s new president’s inauguration, the 62-year-old Haniyeh was assassinated in an airstrike on Wednesday while on a visit to one of Hamas’ most important friends. Israel, which has not responded to the strike, has been accused by both Iran and Hamas.

He would have been the highest-ranking Hamas official to be assassinated by Israel since the militant onslaught led by Hamas on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people and the kidnapping of over 250 more. The ensuing war between Israel and Hamas turned out to be the bloodiest and longest of the Arab-Israeli conflicts. Health officials in Gaza report that over 39,000 Palestinians have died.

Head of Hamas’s political department, Haniyeh, was frequently regarded as a somewhat moderate member of the organization despite being in self-imposed exile in Gaza since 2019. He was among the few of Hamas leaders who expressed that, despite rejecting recognition of Israel, the group is not against a two-state solution. He was based in Qatar and frequently traveled throughout the area. Although he was not directly involved in the Qassam Brigades, the group’s military wing, he frequently coordinated with political branches of the organization.

What he knew about the military wing’s plot to breach the heavily fortified Gaza Strip and launch an attack on neighboring villages in southern Israel is unknown. The masterminds behind the scheme were probably Mohammed Deif, the head of the military branch, and Yahiya Sinwar, the field commander for Hamas. Only a small number of Hamas commanders on the ground were aware of the “zero hour,” an official told the AP.

On the other hand, Haniyeh welcomed the strike and hailed it as a humiliating blow to Israel’s reputation of invincibility after the carnage caught Israeli military and intelligence off guard. After a few hours, he made an appearance in a video praising God for the success of the strike while leading other Hamas officials in prayer. In a speech delivered in Iran in May after the funeral of the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Haniyeh declared, “The Al-Aqsa flood was an earthquake that struck the heart of the Zionist entity and has made major changes at the world level.” The attack on October 7 was code-named by Hamas as “Al-Aqsa flood.”

Haniyeh declared, “We will not give up on this enemy until we have liberated our land, all of our land.”

Tel Aviv University expert on Hamas Michael Milshtein claimed Haniyeh was less involved in military matters but played a dominant role in the group’s foreign policy and diplomacy.

The former military intelligence officer Milshtein claimed, “He was not very powerful, but he was responsible for propaganda and diplomatic relations.” Sinwar would occasionally even chuckle and make jokes like, “He’s the more sophisticated, moderate leader, but he doesn’t understand anything about warfare.”

Nevertheless, Israel promised, following the assaults, to murder every leader of Hamas, and Haniyeh was at the top of the list.
The top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court was also looking into Haniyeh; they were requesting arrest warrants for him, Sinwar, and Deif on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received similar demands. Haniyeh has been listed by the United States as a terrorist since 2018, citing his close ties to Hamas’ armed wing.
Haniyeh continued to travel despite the threats. Throughout the war, he made trips to Turkey and Iran. He took part in the negotiations from Doha with the aim of achieving a cease-fire and releasing the captives.

His closest relatives were lost to Israel’s vengeance. Three of his kids, four of his grandchildren, and one of his sisters were murdered by strikes in April and last month. Israel, according to Haniyeh, is acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.”
Haniyeh was born in the urban Shati refugee camp in Gaza to parents who had been driven from Majdal, which is now the Israeli city of Ashkelon, during the 1948 conflict that preceded Israel’s founding. Israel seized Gaza during the 1967 war, five years after he was born, and he was raised under Israeli administration of the strip.