Ismail Haniyeh, who was the political leader of Hamas, was eliminated in Tehran on a visit to attend the inauguration of new Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian. Good riddance.
Haniyeh joined the terrorist group when it was founded in 1987 and rose up the ranks over the decades. When Hamas took over Gaza in 2006, he became prime minister, and in 2017, he became head of the group’s political bureau. Two years later, he left Gaza for Qatar, which has hosted him since. While branded as a “moderate” by the media, that was a relative term, as he still was committed to Hamas’s goal of destroying Israel, supported their terrorist attacks, and helped raise money from Iran to further their objective. He condemned the U.S. killing of Osama bin Laden and was seen on video celebrating the October 7 attacks as they were unfolding. In a speech in January, he said, “We should hold on to the victory that took place on October 7 and build upon it.”
Though the Israelis did not claim credit for the attack, it is widely believed that they were the ones who pulled it off. Assuming this is true, it is humiliating for the Iranian regime, as it means they allowed a leader of one of their proxy groups to be killed right under their noses when he was supposed to be under their protection.
Haniyeh’s death came within 24 hours of the elimination of top Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr, the mastermind behind Hezbollah’s rocket campaign against northern Israel that resulted in the massacre of twelve children playing soccer in the Israeli Druze community Majdal Shams. Shukr was also believed to have played a key role in the 1983 Marine barracks bombing that killed 241 U.S. service members. These two killings come within weeks of a strike in Gaza that is believed to have killed Mohammed Deif, the terrorist group’s military commander.
Taken together, Israel is sending a powerful message that it has intel on the location of the leaders of Iran’s terrorist proxies and can strike them.
It is unclear what impact these developments will have on Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas. Haniyeh, according to news reports, was seen as more willing to cut a cease-fire deal than Yahya Sinwar, who remains the leader of Hamas in Gaza. Were Israel to eliminate Sinwar, coupled with the killings of Haniyeh and Deif, it would be easier for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to claim that Israel has effectively decapitated Hamas, making it more plausible to declare victory and exit Gaza to focus on the threat from Hezbollah and Iran itself.
For now, however, let’s take a break to celebrate the death of another terrorist.