Hamas
Details: Hamas leader killed by remote-controlled bomb
Noam Bertling
Updated 17.09 | Published 16.21
Hamas leader Ismail Haniya has been killed in Iran.
He is said to have died from an explosion in an apartment complex.
The bomb must have been smuggled into the house for months.
Quick version
The first information about Haniya's death came from the Iranian state news agency Irna. Then it was said that he had been killed in his home in Teheran, the capital of Iran. Several other news agencies reported that he was visiting the city.
According to the New York Times, which has been in contact with several authority sources in the Middle East, he is said to have died after a bomb detonated in an apartment complex.
The bomb is said to have been smuggled in several months before Haniya's visit.
Remotely detonated
The apartment where Haniya spent her last moments is said to be run and protected by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an Iranian military organization designated as a terrorist organization. The building, which is now partially destroyed, is said to be in northern Tehran.
According to New York Times sources, the bomb should have been smuggled in two months ago. When the Hamas leader was to spend the night in the room in question, the bomb was detonated remotely.
The Hamas leader has lived in that apartment several times before during visits. Now he is said to have been on site for the inauguration of Iran's new president.
Haniya led Hamas from Qatar, where he was in exile. He was also one of the main figures in the ceasefire negotiations.
Ismail Haniya. Photo: Vahid Salemi / AP
Who is behind the explosion?
It is currently unknown who detonated the bomb that allegedly killed Haniya. Iran and Hamas have accused Israel.
Israel has not claimed responsibility. According to NYT sources, however, Israel informed the US and other Western governments about the details of the operation immediately after the explosion.
During Wednesday, US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said that he had not been informed of any plan beforehand.
FACTS
Who was Ismail Haniya?
- Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, who was reportedly killed in the Iranian capital Tehran on Wednesday, has been the terrorist-branded group's political leader and one of its front figures for many years.
- For several years now, the 62-year-old has had his base in Qatar. From there, as chairman, he has controlled the movement's highest decision-making body, the so-called Politbyrå with 15 members, and has become an international face.
- Haniya was born in an established refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, near Gaza City. He joined Hamas in the late 1980s and was close to Hamas founder and first leader Ahmed Yassin.
- Haniya was named the movement's top political chief in 2017, and before that was prime minister of a Palestinian coalition in the period before Hamas ousted rival Fatah from the Gaza Strip by force (2006).
- In April, three of Haniya's sons and several of his grandchildren were killed in an Israeli air raid in Gaza, according to Hamas. He himself insisted that the deaths of the family members would not affect the ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel.
- During the war, after the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, Haniya traveled on missions to both Iran and Turkey and met both the Turkish and Iranian presidents. He is said to have maintained good relations with the heads of the various Palestinian factions, including rivals to Hamas.
- At Haniya's side in Qatar was also the long-time leader Khaled Mashal, who has been with the Politburo all the way.
- Qatari leaders' approach to negotiations on a ceasefire has been reported to differ from that of Gaza leaders. And it is the latter who hold the hostage that is being negotiated.
- Hamas's top leader on the ground in Gaza is Yahya Sinwar, 61. He is
sometimes singled out as the movement's de facto top leader and is
considered a particularly hardline one. Today, Sinwar is believed to be
hiding somewhere in Gaza's underground tunnel network.
(Source: TT)
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