 "Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader who was killed in Iran, was the tough-talking face of the Palestinian group's international diplomacy as war raged back in Gaza, where three of his sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Reuters")
The Palestinian militant group announced that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed early on Wednesday in Iran, raising concerns about a larger escalation in a region already unsettled by Israel’s war in Gaza and a growing conflict in Lebanon.
Israel aims to demonstrate that it can reach everyone, anywhere. Since Hamas was established in 1987 during the first Palestinian uprising against the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, it has killed or attempted to kill key operatives and leaders of the organisation.
Two years later, Hamas executed its first strikes against military targets in Israel, resulting in the abduction and murder of two Israeli soldiers.
Here is a list of Palestinian leaders and operatives who were targeted by the most powerful and sophisticated military in West Asia.
Yahya Ayyash
Named “The Engineer,” this elusive Islamic militant mastermind was assassinated in Gaza under PLO administration, after leading a string of Palestinian suicide attacks.
On January 5, 1996, his cell phone detonated in his hands, resulting in his death.
Palestinians blamed Israel, which declined to take responsibility.
Hamas revenged in four suicide attacks that killed 59 people in three Israeli cities over nine days in February and March.
Khaled Meshaal
Former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal became known around the world in 1997 after Israeli agents injected him with poison in a botched assassination attempt on a street outside his office in the Jordanian capital Amman.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe hit had been ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Former Jordanian King Hussein was so enraged over the hit that he threatened to hang the would-be assassins and renounce Jordan’s peace accord with Israel unless the antidote was turned over.
Israel did so and also agreed to free Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, only to assassinate him seven years later in Gaza.
Also read: How and why was Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Iran?
Ahmed Yassin
On March 22, 2004, Israel struck a mosque in Gaza City with a helicopter missile strike, killing Sheikh Ahmed, the quadriplegic co-founder and spiritual head of Hamas.
Israel initially attempted to kill him in 2003 while he was at the house of a Hamas member in Gaza.
With shouts of retaliation and threats to “send death to every home” in Israel, thousands of Palestinians marched across Gaza.
His death sparked intense demonstrations and outrage from the Palestinian territories and the Muslim world at large, signalling a major turning point in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and highlighting the longstanding tensions and challenges to bringing about peace in the area.
Abdel-Aziz Al-Rantisi
On April 17, 2004, Hamas commander Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi was assassinated in an Israeli helicopter missile strike on a car in Gaza City. Two bodyguards were also killed. The name of the person who succeeded Rantissi was kept under wraps, and the Hamas leadership went into hiding.
His assassination came shortly after he had taken over as Hamas leader in Gaza following the killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
Also read: After Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination, which Hamas leaders remain?
Adnan Al-Ghoul
Hamas master bomber was killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on Oct. 21, 2004. Ghoul was number 2 in the military wing of Hamas and known as the “Father of the Qassam” rocket, a makeshift missile frequently fired into Israeli towns.
Nizar Rayyan
A cleric widely regarded as one of Hamas’s most hardline political leaders, had called for renewed suicide bombings inside Israel.
The blast in the Jabalya refugee camp on January 1, 2009, also claimed the lives of two of his four wives and seven of his children.
Days later, on January 15, an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip killed Saeed Seyyam, the interior minister for Hamas.
Over 13,000 Hamas police and security personnel were under Seyyam’s command.
Saleh Al-Arouri
An Israeli drone strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs of Dahiyeh killed Deputy Hamas chief Saleh al-Arouri on January 2, 2024. Arouri was also the founder of Hamas military wing, the Qassam Brigades.
Ismail Haniyeh
Haniyeh was assassinated in the early hours of Wednesday morning in Iran, the Palestinian militant group said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed the death of Haniyeh, hours after he attended a swearing-in ceremony for the country’s new president, and said it was investigating.
Iranian media reported that he was staying at “a special residence for war veterans in north Tehran” Iran’s NourNews said Haniyeh’s residence was hit by an airborne projectile.
With inputs from Reuters