Ismail Haniyeh’s sons killed in Israeli airstrike

Reuters reports the death of three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. The Israeli military confirmed carrying out the attack, describing the three sons as operatives in the Hamas armed wing.

The three sons - Hazem, Amir and Mohammad - were killed when the car they were driving in was bombed in Gaza's Al-Shati camp. Four of Haniyeh's grandchildren, three girls and a boy, were also killed in the attack.

The Israeli military said there was "no information on that right now."

Haniyeh, based in Qatar, has been the tough-talking face of Hamas' international diplomacy as war with Israel has raged on in Gaza, where his family home was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike back in November.

"The blood of my sons is not dearer than the blood of our people," Haniyeh, 61, who has 13 sons and daughters according to Hamas sources, told pan-Arab Al Jazeera TV.

The three sons and four grandchildren were making family visits during the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday in Shati, their home refugee camp in Gaza City.

Hamas said on Tuesday it was studying an Israeli ceasefire proposal in the more than six-month-old Gaza war but that it was "intransigent" and met none of the Palestinian demands.

"Our demands are clear and specific and we will not make concessions on them. The enemy will be delusional if it thinks that targeting my sons, at the climax of the negotiations and before the movement sends its response, will push Hamas to change its position," Haniyeh said.

In the seventh month of a war in which Israel's air and ground offensive has devastated Gaza, Hamas wants an end to Israeli military operations and a withdrawal from the enclave, and permission for displaced Palestinians to return home.

Haniyeh's eldest son confirmed in a Facebook post that his three brothers were killed. "Thanks to God who honoured us by the martyrdom of my brothers, Hazem, Amir and Mohammad and their children," wrote Abdel-Salam Haniyeh.

Appointed to the militant group's top job in 2017, Haniyeh has moved between Turkey and Qatar's capital Doha, avoiding Israeli-imposed travel restrictions in blockaded Gaza and enabling him to act as a negotiator in the latest ceasefire negotiations or communicate with Hamas' main ally Iran.

Israel regards the entire Hamas leadership as terrorists, accusing Haniyeh and other leaders of continuing to "pull the strings of the Hamas terror organization".

But how much Haniyeh knew about the October 07 cross-border attack on Israel by Gaza-based militants beforehand is not clear. The attack plan, drawn up by the Hamas military council in Gaza, was such a closely guarded secret that some Hamas officials abroad seemed shocked by its timing and scale.

 

 

 

 

Israel cannot provide protection to Arab countries, says Haniyeh

Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, told fellow Arab countries on Saturday that Israel cannot provide them with any protection despite recent diplomatic rapprochements.

Hamas launched the biggest attack on Israel in years on Saturday, killing dozens of people and taking hostages in a surprise assault that combined gunmen crossing into Israel with a barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.

Israel said the Iran-backed group had declared war as its army confirmed fighting with militants in several Israeli towns and military bases near Gaza, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate.

In a televised speech, Haniyeh addressed the Arab countries that have normalized ties with Israel in recent years.

"We say to all countries, including our Arab brothers, that this entity, which cannot protect itself in the face of resistors, cannot provide you with any protection," he said.

"All the normalization agreements that you signed with that entity cannot resolve this (Palestinian) conflict."

In 2020, Israel reached normalization with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and upgraded ties with Morocco and Sudan, despite talks with the Palestinians being frozen for years.

Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia and Israel are also engaged in US-mediated talks to normalize relations, a prospect that drew condemnation from some Palestinian factions.

Haniyeh also said armed Palestinian factions intend to expand the ongoing battle in Gaza to the West Bank and Jerusalem. "The battle moved into the heart of the 'zionist entity'" he said.

 

Hamas hails Iranian support for Palestinians

Palestinian resistance group Hamas has hailed the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran in support of Palestine. In a recent meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian in Doha, a delegation of Hamas, headed by its Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh, appreciated the Iranian backing. 

The Hamas delegation addressed the developments related to the Palestinian cause, particularly with regard to the situation in occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank, Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, and the 15-year Israeli siege on Gaza. 

The Iranian minister discussed the developments concerning a number of matters, including regional alliances and the Vienna talks, reiterating his country's stance in support of the Palestinian people and resistance.      

Hamas delegation welcomed the endeavors being made to achieve unity among Arab and Muslim nations, especially the efforts being exerted by Iran and Saudi Arabia. 

Besides the Hamas chief, the meeting was attended by members of Hamas Political Bureau Khalil al-Hayya and Mousa Abu Marzouq, in addition to Majdi Abu Amsheh, Head of Haniyeh's office.

The Iranian Foreign ministry said in a statement that during the meeting, Amir Abdollahian outlined the Islamic republic’s principled policy toward the issue of Palestine as a plight in the heart of the Islamic Ummah created by the child-killing Zionist regime which enjoys support from the West.

He also condemned the brutal crimes of the Zionist occupiers against al-Quds, al-Aqsa Mosque, Gaza and occupied Palestinian territories as well as the regime’s aggression and atrocities against the Palestinian people and sanctities.

Amir Abdollahian reaffirmed Iran’s support for the legitimate defense of the Palestinian people and resistance against the occupation of the Zionist regime. 

Haniyeh, for his part, appreciated Iran’s support for the Palestinian people in their struggle against the Zionist regime’s continued aggression.

He also called on the Muslim and Arab world as well as the international community to adopt a decisive stance against the Israeli regime’s violations.

The meeting was part of Amir Abdollahian’s high-level meetings in Qatar, where he met with the emir and the foreign minister of the tiny Persian Gulf nation. 

In his meeting with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir Abdollahian extended the Iranian President’s greetings to the Qatari leader. He examined the latest developments in bilateral ties in political, security, trade and economic areas. Amir Abdollahian referred to the existing capacities for expanding economic relations between Iran and Qatar, underlining the need for forging cooperation in economic areas given the existing advantages of Iran in this regard. 

The Iranian foreign minister further outlined the current Iranian administration’s approach to relations with neighboring countries and emphasized the exchange of delegations at high levels between the two countries for consultations.

Amir Abdollahian also underscored the regional views of Iran and declared Tehran’s readiness to develop interaction with regional nations in bilateral and multilateral ways.

The top Iranian diplomat then spoke about the Vienna talks over removing the oppressive sanctions against Iran as well as the issues related to Afghanistan and Yemen. The Qatari emir also outlined his views regarding these matters.

Haniyeh elected head of Hamas for a second term

According to a Reuters report, Ismail Haniyeh has been elected head of Hamas for a second term. The Palestinian Islamist group controls the Gaza Strip. Haniyeh’s victory caps internal elections that also saw the group’s Gaza chief, Yehya Al-Sinwar, win a second term in March. Further votes were delayed by May’s upsurge in violence.

"Brother Ismail Haniyeh was re-elected as the head of the movement's political office for a second time," one official told Reuters. His term will last four years.

Haniyeh, the group's leader since 2017, has controlled its political activities throughout several armed confrontations with Israel, including the most recent 11-day conflict in May that left over 250 in Gaza and 13 in Israel dead.

He has controlled the group’s political activities in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the diaspora largely from outside Gaza, splitting his time between Turkey and Qatar for the past two years.

He was the right-hand man to Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in Gaza, before the wheelchair-bound cleric was assassinated in 2004.

Haniyeh, 58, led Hamas' entry into politics in 2006, when they were surprise victors in Palestinian parliamentary elections, defeating a divided Fatah party led by President Mahmoud Abbas.

Haniyeh became prime minister shortly after the January 2006 victory, but Hamas - which is deemed a terrorist organization by the United States, Israel and the European Union - was shunned by the international community.

Following a brief civil war, Hamas seized Gaza from the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, which has limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in 2007. Israel has led a blockade of Gaza since then, citing threats from Hamas.