Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas Leader on Israel’s Hit List Since Oct. 7, Is Killed in Airstrike in Tehran

In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Masoud Pezeshkian, right, shakes hands with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh at the start of their meeting at the President's office in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)
In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Masoud Pezeshkian, right, shakes hands with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh at the start of their meeting at the President's office in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)
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Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas Leader on Israel’s Hit List Since Oct. 7, Is Killed in Airstrike in Tehran

In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Masoud Pezeshkian, right, shakes hands with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh at the start of their meeting at the President's office in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)
In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Masoud Pezeshkian, right, shakes hands with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh at the start of their meeting at the President's office in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ supreme leader in exile who landed on Israel’s hit list after the armed group staged its surprise Oct. 7 attacks, was killed in an airstrike in the Iranian capital early Wednesday. He was 62. 

Hamas said Haniyeh was killed at his residence in Tehran in an Israeli airstrike after he attended the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s new president. Israel has not commented on the accusation. 

Haniyeh's death makes him the latest Hamas official to be killed by Israel since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks, when militants killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages. The devastating Israel-Hamas war the attacks set off has become the deadliest and longest in the Arab-Israeli conflict. More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to health officials in Gaza. 

While Hamas’ Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar is believed to have been the mastermind of the attacks, Haniyeh, seen as a more moderate force in Hamas, lauded them as a humiliating blow to Israel's aura of invincibility. 

“The Al-Aqsa flood was an earthquake that struck the heart of the Zionist entity and has made major changes at the world level,” Haniyeh said in a speech in Iran during the funeral of late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in May. 

“We will continue the resistance against this enemy until we liberate our land, all our land,” Haniyeh said. 

Hours after the Oct. 7 attacks, Haniyeh appeared in a video released by Hamas leading prayers with other top Hamas officials. They thanked God for the success of the attack, which blasted through Israel's vaunted defenses and resulted in the deadliest assault in Israel’s history. 

Michael Milshtein, a Hamas expert at Tel Aviv University, said Haniyeh had a commanding role in the group's foreign policy and diplomacy, but was less involved in military affairs. 

“He was responsible for propaganda, for diplomatic relations, but he was not very powerful,” said Milshtein, a former military intelligence officer. “From time to time, Sinwar even laughed and joked: ‘He’s the more moderate, sophisticated leader, but he doesn’t understand anything about warfare.’” 

Still, Israel pledged to target all of Hamas’ leaders following the attacks and has gradually worked to fulfill that promise. 

Haniyeh was also under the eye of the International Criminal Court, whose chief prosecutor sought arrest warrants against him and two other Hamas leaders, Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Similar requests were issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. 

Haniyeh lived in self-imposed exile in Qatar since 2019 and the threats against him did not prevent him from traveling. He visited Türkiye and Iran throughout the war. From Doha, he was involved in negotiations meant to bring about a ceasefire and free the hostages. 

His role in Hamas’ leadership also cost him his closest relatives. In April, an Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed three of Haniyeh’s sons, after which he accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” 

Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed as well as his sister in a separate strike last month. 

Haniyeh, who was born in Gaza’s urban Shati refugee camp on Jan. 29, 1963, joined Hamas when it was founded in 1987. He served as an aid to Ahmad Yassin, the group’s founder, and rose throughout the years until he became its top political leader, replacing Khaled Meshaal in 2017. 

Haniyeh was deeply religious and studied Arabic literature at university. He was known for delivering lengthy speeches using flowery language to his supporters while serving as prime minister in Gaza. 

Hani Masri, a veteran Palestinian analyst who met Haniyeh several times, said the late leader’s personality was a natural fit for the head of the group’s political bureau in Doha. He described him as having been sociable and well spoken. 

Haniyeh, like thousands of other Palestinians, was detained by Israeli authorities in 1989 for being a member of Hamas and spent three years in jail before he was deported to Lebanon in 1992 with a group of top Hamas officials and founders. He later returned to the Gaza Strip following the 1993 interim peace accords, which were signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. 

Haniyeh assumed the position of prime minister in the Palestinian government after Hamas won legislative elections in 2006. He presided over the gravest crisis in the Palestinian leadership in its history, which continues until today. 

Hamas violently overran Gaza in 2007, routing forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah faction and installing itself as ruler of the tiny coastal enclave, with Haniyeh as prime minister. 



Egypt Welcomes Tehran’s Renaming of ‘Islamabouli Street’ as a Turning Point in Relations with Iran

Relations between Egypt and Iran saw a notable thaw following Araghchi’s visit to Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)
Relations between Egypt and Iran saw a notable thaw following Araghchi’s visit to Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)
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Egypt Welcomes Tehran’s Renaming of ‘Islamabouli Street’ as a Turning Point in Relations with Iran

Relations between Egypt and Iran saw a notable thaw following Araghchi’s visit to Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)
Relations between Egypt and Iran saw a notable thaw following Araghchi’s visit to Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)

Egypt has welcomed Iran’s decision to rename a Tehran street once dedicated to Khalid al-Islamabouli - the Egyptian army officer who assassinated President Anwar Sadat in 1981 - describing the move as a significant step toward resetting bilateral relations.

In the first official Egyptian response to the development, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ambassador Tamim Khallaf told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Renaming the street is a positive step in Egyptian-Iranian relations. It helps put matters back on the right track.”

The street, long a source of tension between Cairo and Tehran, has now been renamed after Hassan Nasrallah, the former Secretary-General of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, following a decision by the Tehran City Council.

Iranian media reported that a formal ceremony was held to unveil the new name, attended by officials, intellectuals, and civil society figures. The change was part of a wider initiative that saw 11 streets in the capital renamed last month.

Dr. Hoda Raouf, a Cairo-based expert on Iranian affairs, said the move reflects “a meaningful shift and a clear sign of Iran’s serious intent to restore relations with Egypt.”

She noted that Egyptian-Iranian ties have two key dimensions: regional security - particularly Egypt’s opposition to Iranian interference in countries such as Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen - and the bilateral relationship, which has long been strained over symbolic gestures such as honoring Sadat’s assassin.

Political philosopher and Iran specialist Dr. Mohamed Khairy echoed that assessment, calling the street name change “a significant development.”

He emphasized that the decision was passed by majority vote and attended by influential figures from Iran’s political establishment, which he said reflects a genuine desire within Iran to repair ties with Cairo.

The gesture comes amid signs of warming relations between the two nations. Iranian top diplomat Abbas Araghchi recently visited Cairo, where he met President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and senior officials.

His visit included a symbolic walk through the historic Khan el-Khalili bazaar, prayers at the Al-Hussein Mosque, and dinner at the famed Naguib Mahfouz restaurant.

Sisi also held a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during the recent Israeli escalation against Iran, in which he affirmed Egypt’s rejection of Israeli attacks on Iranian territory.