Haniyeh Criticized After Calling Soleimani 'Martyr of Jerusalem'

 Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh gestures as he delivers a speech in Gaza City January 23, 2018. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh gestures as he delivers a speech in Gaza City January 23, 2018. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
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Haniyeh Criticized After Calling Soleimani 'Martyr of Jerusalem'

 Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh gestures as he delivers a speech in Gaza City January 23, 2018. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh gestures as he delivers a speech in Gaza City January 23, 2018. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

The head of Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, has sparked widespread controversy after he described the commander of the IRGC Al-Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by the United States in Iraq last Friday, as a “martyr of Jerusalem.”

“The martyr Commander Soleimani spent his life in order to support the resistance while he was at the head of Al-Quds Force,” Haniyeh said in a speech before mourners in Tehran.

In the speech translated into Persian, Haniyeh repeatedly said that Soleimani was the “martyr of Jerusalem”. Activists, intellectuals and Brotherhood officials rejected the remarks, criticizing Hamas’ positions.

Many anti-Iran figures, inside and outside Hamas and in the Arab world, rejected Haniyeh’s participation in the funeral and disapproved his statements.

Ibrahim Hamami, a writer and researcher of the leading defenders of Hamas, wrote in response to Haniyeh: “No, he is not the martyr of Jerusalem.”

He said the Hamas official’s words were “more than dangerous.”

Controversial reactions spread on social networking sites. This came despite the fact that Haniyeh had ordered Hamas officials to avoid delving into the issue of Soleimani, “given the situation is very sensitive.”

Haniyeh said in Tehran: “The project of the resistance in the land of Palestine and in the region will not weaken and not back down… the assassinations will increase our strength, steadfastness and determination to proceed in order to liberate Jerusalem and liberate the will of this nation.”



Israeli Troops Deploy to New Corridor Across Southern Gaza

Smoke rises to the sky following Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Smoke rises to the sky following Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
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Israeli Troops Deploy to New Corridor Across Southern Gaza

Smoke rises to the sky following Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Smoke rises to the sky following Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Israel said Saturday that troops have deployed to a newly established security corridor across southern Gaza to pressure the Hamas militant group.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday announced the new Morag Corridor and suggested it would cut off the southern city of Rafah, which Israel has ordered evacuated, from the rest of Gaza.
A military statement Saturday said troops with the 36th Division had been deployed in the corridor. It was not immediately clear how many had deployed or where exactly the corridor was located, The Associated Press reported. Morag is the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, and Netanyahu suggested it would run between the cities.
Maps published by Israeli media showed the new corridor running the width of the narrow coastal strip from east to west.
Netanyahu said it would be “a second Philadelphi corridor,” referring to the Gaza side of the border with Egypt further south, which has been under Israeli control since last May.
Israel has also reasserted control over the Netzarim corridor that cuts off the northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, from the rest of the strip. The Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors run from the Israeli border to the Mediterranean Sea.
“We are cutting up the strip, and we are increasing the pressure step by step, so that they will give us our hostages,” Netanyahu said Wednesday.
The latest announcement came shortly after a White House official confirmed that Netanyahu on Monday would again meet with President Donald Trump, their second meeting at the White House since Trump took office in January.
Last month, Israel shattered the ceasefire in Gaza with a surprise bombardment after trying to pressure Hamas to accept proposed new terms for the truce that had taken hold in January. The White House supported Israel's move.
Netanyahu’s defense minister said Israel would seize large areas of Gaza and add them to its so-called security zones.
Israel has pledged to escalate the war with Hamas until the militant group returns the remaining hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that sparked the war, disarms and leaves the territory.
Israel last month again halted all supplies of food, fuel and humanitarian aid to Gaza.