Khawla Haniyeh, Ismail Haniyeh’s daughter, expressed herself in the following manner: “Thank God, who honoured us with the martyrdom of our great father, the leader, the generous, and the mujahid (fighter) for the sake of God. Thank God who chose him among the martyrs! Thank God who honoured and privileged us with his martyrdom!
By Khan Yasir
NEW DELHI: Israel’s relentless disregard for international law, UN resolutions, the Geneva Conventions, and basic human decency is not a new phenomenon. This grim reality has once again been underscored by the recent assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the chief negotiator for peace, during the ongoing conflict in Palestine. Unfortunately, this incident is merely one of many recent transgressions, which include attacks on civilians, journalists, and targeted killings—each more egregious than the last. Rami Khouri aptly describes this as a “Frankenstein version of Zionism,” a movement that seems to claim an exclusive right to indiscriminate violence. What is perhaps most alarming, Khouri notes, is that not only is no one stopping these actions, but it seems that no one is even trying.
Who was Ismail Haniyeh?
Ismail Haniyeh was born at Al-Shati refugee camp (Gaza) in 1962/63. Like thousands of other fellow Palestinians, his parents were forced to flee his home in Asqalan during the 1948 Nakba. A childhood of difficulties and struggle can only be imagined! However, these hardships moulded him into a fierce resister, an inspiring freedom fighter, a humble public servant, an astute politician, and a great leader.
In the 1980s, during his studies at the Islamic University of Gaza, he joined the Islamic Student Bloc, participated in the civil uprising known as the first Intifada and served jail terms in Israel for a cumulative period of around four years. In 1992, after his release, he was exiled to Lebanon. Following the Oslo Accords, Haniyeh returned to Gaza a year later and was appointed Dean of the Islamic University of Gaza.
In 1997, when Sheikh Ahmed Yaseen – the spiritual leader and founder of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) – was released from prison, Haniyeh – a founder member of the resistance movement himself – was appointed to head his office. He also served the Sheikh as his secretary till 2004 when the quadriplegic Sheikh was martyred in a dishonourable airstrike orchestrated by Israel while returning from Masjid after Fajr prayers.
Earlier, on 6th September 2003, Haniyeh along with Sheikh had barely escaped an attack by Israeli jets. Later, Ismail Haniyeh survived attacks on his convoy (2006) and missile attacks at home (2007) as well.
In 2006, Ismail Haniyeh led Hamas to a landslide political victory and became the Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority government. Despite severe blockade, economic sanctions and punitive measures by Israel that were backed by the superpowers of the world, Haniyeh never lost popular support and continued to lead his people till 2014. On 6th May 2017, Haniyeh was elected as the head of the political bureau of Hamas. He succeeded Khaled Meshaal. Since then, he led the group’s diplomatic efforts. During the current crisis, he was the chief negotiator of peace. On 31st July 2024, Ismail Haniyeh was martyred in a cowardly attack by Israel. He was in Tehran to participate in the inauguration of Iran’s newly elected President MasoudPezeshkian.
The gory assassination is not an isolated incident. It is yet another in the series of assassinations and target killings orchestrated by Israel as the west – with all the tall claims of being custodians of rights and liberty – look the other way. Worse still, the United States is mobilising its navy and air force in solidarity with perpetrators of genocide to make sure that they won’t get any punishment for their ignoble deeds. Now it’s obvious, if someone had any doubts, that Israel stands erect upon the foundations of unimaginable suffering, mass displacement, indiscriminate violence, gruesome genocide and ethnic cleansing.
Haniyeh in the light of his statements
On one hand, Ismail Haniyeh was soft spoken and a pragmatist and on the other hand he was blessed with sublime perspicacity and unmatched ideological clarity as is evident from the following statements. Regarding recognition of Israel by Hamas, he once said, “Which Israel should we recognize? The Israel of 1917; the Israel of 1936; the Israel of 1948; the Israel of 1956; or the Israel of 1967? Which borders and which Israel? Israel has to recognise first the Palestinian state and its borders and then we will know what we are talking about.”
This statement not only highlights the expansionist nature of the terrorist state of Israel but also places the onus of recognition of the legitimate claims of Palestinians on Israel and its allies.
At different forums, Haniyeh has highlighted the continued suffering of Palestinians and the perpetual and criminal silence of the world. The following statement is attributed to him, “Doesn’t the world see the suffering of millions of Palestinians who have been living in exile around the world or in refugee camps for the past 60 years (now 75+ years)? No state, no home, no identity, no right to work. Doesn’t the world see this injustice?”
Emphasising upon the hypocrisy of the western countries who consider themselves emblem of liberty, democracy and peace in the world, Haniyeh had argued, “The Europeans and Americans have said the martyrdom operations are why Hamas has been put on the terrorist list. But now these operations have stopped. Did they then remove Hamas from the list of terrorist organisations? We do not launch wars. We are people resisting occupation.”
He was very clear in his vision that Palestinians won’t get their land back as a gift but they would have to resist the occupation with all their might and be ready to pay heavy prices in this freedom struggle. In his words, “The Palestinian people do not beg the world for a state, and the state can’t be created through such decisions and initiatives. States liberate their land first and then the political body can be established.”
One of the greatest highlights of his public career was not his election as Prime Minister in 2006 but the love, respect and support that he commanded in Gaza despite the severest blockade and sanctions imposed upon the whole population rendering the city as the largest open air prison in the world. Not only the current war but also the incessant blockade of Gaza is the worst example of collective punishment in human history.
As their leader, Haniyeh presented the Palestinian case before the world; he highlighted that, “Since the beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1967, more than 6,50,000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel – about 40% of the male population.”
He praised his people for their faith and commitment, saying: “Every Palestinian family feels the effects of the international embargo. But the more the pressure on the government grows, the more support we receive, both from the Palestinian street and from the Arab and Islamic world.”
He also said, “…our people have the necessary patience to endure the current difficult situation. Palestinians would rather do without certain food items than their national rights.” The steadfastness that his fellow Palestinians have shown during these testing times vindicates their leader’s faith in them.
The exemplary faith and courage shown by Palestinians has indeed been astonishing. And it vindicates Haniyeh when he said, “When the Israeli leaders launched their expansionist war in June 1967, they never envisaged that 40 years later they would still be haunted by the consequences.”
The truth is, despite sustaining inconceivable losses, the patience, courage and resistance of Palestinians is still haunting the Israelis today. In Ismail Haniyeh, we can see the essence of the Palestinian courage. On 10th April 2024, a targeted Israeli attack in northern Gaza killed his three sons on the day of Eid al-Fitr when they were visiting their relatives. The world saw Haniyeh getting the sad news and calmly praying for the souls of the departed ones. He declared, “Through the blood of the martyrs and the pain of the injured, we create hope, we create the future, we create independence and freedom for our people and our nation.”
It came to be known that, by then, around 60 members of his family (including nieces and nephews) had been killed since the start of the war. He highlighted the fact that Israel is “driven by the spirit of revenge” and “the spirit of murder and bloodshed” and that the war is an “ethnic cleansing and genocide” but he made it very clear that, “If they think that targeting my children at the peak of these talks before the movement’s response is submitted will cause Hamas to change its positions, they are delusional.”
And then he stunned the world by the strength of his character when at such moment of trial and torment he asserted that, “The blood of my children is not more valuable than the blood of the children of the Palestinian people… All the martyrs of Palestine are my children.”
The curious phenomena of the Haniyeh Family
Ismail Haniyeh had lost 70+ members from his extended family in the ongoing season of genocide directed by Israel and produced by USA. We have seen his judicious words and composed demeanour when he lost his loved ones. The words and the body language of his family members on Haniyeh’s own martyrdom illustrates how he rooted the faith and values in his family and raised his children from the same soil of ideals with the same warmth of vision. Here was a leader with which people could relate, who was at the forefront not to receive bouquets but to offer exemplary sacrifices for the cause.
Upon Ismail Haniyeh’s martyrdom, his eldest son, walking in the footsteps of his esteemed father, said: “My father’s blood is not more precious than the blood of Gaza’s children or its men, and our tears are not more precious than the tears of the mothers and children of the martyrs.”
“We say to the occupiers,” he asserted, “no matter how many you kill, you will not be able to stop the march and revolution of the Palestinian people.”
He recollected his father’s efforts to end attacks on Gaza and achieve national unity and victory and pointed out, “My father has been pursuing martyrdom day and night because he had chosen the path of resistance, revolution, and struggle since his childhood.”
Inas Haniyeh, the daughter-in-law of Ismail Haniyeh, expressed herself in the following words, “With hearts satisfied with God’s judgement and destiny, I mourn a man… a well-known man… my father-in-law… the crown of my head and the apple of my eye… as he joins the martyrs, the honest and the blessed… We will only say what pleases God. Our eyes are tearful, the heart is sad for your separation… We belong to God and to Him we will return… The pain is great but our relief is that this life is mortal and if God wills we will meet you in a paradise as big as the sky and Earth.”
She said that her daughters, who were killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza, will now be reunited with their grandfather who they missed dearly.
Amal Haniyeh, Ismail Haniyeh’s wife, while bidding his coffin goodbye was seen uttering these words, “My dear, deliver my greetings to all the leaders and martyrs from Gaza. My dear, may God bless you and make it easy for you.”
Khawla Haniyeh, Ismail Haniyeh’s daughter, expressed herself in the following manner: “Thank God, who honoured us with the martyrdom of our great father, the leader, the generous, and the mujahid (fighter) for the sake of God. Thank God who chose him among the martyrs! Thank God who honoured and privileged us with his martyrdom! May our Lord be pleased with him and accept him into the highest ranks (of paradise).”
The true character gets exposed in times of distress and tribulations. The character shown by the Haniyeh family despite unfathomable sufferings speaks volumes not only about their honesty and dedication for the cause but also the strength, integrity and uprightness of their father and leader Ismail Haniyeh who had rightly said, “Some people think that the truth can be hidden with a little cover-up and decoration. But as time goes by, what is true is revealed, and what is fake fades away.” How true! Despite the disgusting censorship by Meta, sincere, truthful and just human beings around the world today know who Ismail Haniyeh was and who actually the terrorist is.
*This article was first published in the radianceweekly.net
