Ismail Haniyeh, the internationally recognized leader of the Palestinian party Hamas, has long been a divisive political figure. On Saturday, October 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, firing a barrage of missiles and dispatching fighters. Over 1,500 people were killed on both sides of the conflict.
Is Ismail Haniyeh the head of Hamas?
- Ismail Haniyeh was born on January 29, 1962, in the Gaza Strip’s Al-Shi refugee camp. He is a prominent Hamas leader and Palestinian politician.
- Haniyeh’s primary education was provided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
- In 1981, he enrolled at the Islamic University of Gaza to study Arabic literature. He was also an active participant in student politics and a major figure in a student association affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.
- Haniyeh was arrested by Israeli authorities in 1988 for his participation in the first revolt against Israeli authority, popularly known as the first intifada. He was imprisoned for six months in 1989, then again in 1992, when Israel deported him and roughly 400 other Islamists to south Lebanon. The first Intifada, which lasted from 1987 to 1993, saw large rallies and even suicide bombings against Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem.
- Ismail Haniyeh’s political career includes serving as the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) prime minister from 2006 to 2007, a stint that began after Hamas won a surprising majority of seats in the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council elections.
- From 2007 to 2014, he commanded the de facto government in Gaza following an internal conflict with rival Fatah, which now governs in the West Bank, which resulted in the disbandment of the government and the emergence of an independent Hamas-led administration in the Gaza Strip. Later, in 2017, he was named to succeed Khaled Meshaal as chairman of Hamas’ political bureau.
