{"id":114694,"date":"2024-08-01T17:05:13","date_gmt":"2024-08-01T15:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=114694"},"modified":"2024-08-01T10:35:18","modified_gmt":"2024-08-01T08:35:18","slug":"03-00-101","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=114694","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A Symbolic Achievement\u2019: Haniyeh\u2019s Death a Blow to Hamas, But Will Not Change Terror Group Significantly, Analysts Say"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>\u2018A Symbolic Achievement\u2019: Haniyeh\u2019s Death a Blow to Hamas, But Will Not Change Terror Group Significantly, Analysts Say<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n

Debbie Weiss<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh speaks during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, March 26, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour\/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The assassination of exiled\u00a0Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh<\/a>\u00a0has sent shock waves through the Palestinian terrorist organization and the broader Middle East but, on its own, is unlikely to undermine the Islamist group\u2019s stability in the long term, analysts say.<\/span><\/p>\n

Haniyeh, who as the terror group\u2019s political chief is known for his role in recent Gaza ceasefire negotiations, was killed in Tehran early Wednesday morning by the \u201cZionist entity,\u201d according to both Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hamas. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the assassination. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was not involved in Haniyeh\u2019s elimination, only commenting that pursuing an immediate ceasefire was \u201cimperative.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the terror group remained unfettered by Haniyeh\u2019s death. \u201cWe are\u00a0waging an open war<\/a>\u00a0to liberate Jerusalem and are ready to pay any price,\u201d Abu Zuhri said. \u201cHamas is a concept and an institution and not persons. Hamas will continue on this path regardless of the sacrifices and we are confident of victory.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ibrahim Madhoun, an analyst closely affiliated with Hamas, underscored the terror group\u2019s history of recovering from similar losses, having endured the assassinations of various political and military leaders in the past. It \u201ccame out of those scenarios stronger,\u201d Madhoun told\u00a0The New York Times<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser to the prime minister of Israel, said that Haniyeh\u2019s assassination was mostly symbolic.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHanieyh will be replaced within 48 hours, maybe by [Moussa] Abu Marzouk, or Khaled Mashal,\u201d Amidror said in a call with\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/i>\u00a0and other outlets.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a symbolic action to make clear to everyone that Israel is ready to act whenever they can,\u201d he added. \u201cIt says something about the determination of Israel to get rid of its enemies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hamas\u2019 Gaza-based chief\u00a0Yahya Sinwar<\/a>\u00a0was a \u201cmuch more important\u201d target, Amidror said, that would have far-reaching repercussions on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, said Haniyeh\u2019s assassination was a part of a plan to kill \u201call those who were involved in the Oct. 7 attack and the killing, burning, beheading, raping, of our citizens.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hamas launched the ongoing war with its invasion of and\u00a0massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7<\/a>, when the Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 hostages to Gaza. Sinwar has been widely considered the mastermind of the attack.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yadlin pointed out that the assassination occurred in Iran rather than Qatar, emphasizing that the choice was likely made to avoid jeopardizing ongoing hostage negotiations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael doesn\u2019t want to open a new front with Doha,\u201d he said, referring to Qatar\u2019s role in mediating ongoing ceasefire negotiations. For years,\u00a0Qatar has hosted senior Hamas leaders<\/a>, including Haniyeh, who reportedly lived there in luxury.<\/span><\/p>\n

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei expressed outrage over Wednesday\u2019s killing, vowing retaliation. In a statement released by the state-run IRNA news agency, Khamenei described the incident as a \u201cmartyrdom\u201d inflicted by the \u201ccriminal and terrorist Zionist regime.\u201d He vowed that Iran would impose a \u201charsh punishment\u201d in response to the killing of Haniyeh, whom he referred to as a \u201cbeloved guest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Iran is the chief international sponsor of Hamas, providing the terror group with weapons, funding, and training. Haniyeh has traveled to Iran multiple times since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, including in May when he\u00a0delivered a eulogy<\/a>\u00a0for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at a funeral.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Hamas political chief was in Iran this week meeting with Khamenei and other top regime officials and participated on Tuesday in the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite being more directly involved in Hamas\u2019 political affairs than its military operations, Haniyeh was placed on the US State Department\u2019s Specially Designated Global Terrorists list in 2018.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHaniyeh has close links with Hamas\u2019 military wing and has been a proponent of armed struggle, including against civilians,\u201d the department said at the time while announcing his terror designation. \u201cHe has reportedly been involved in terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens. Hamas has been responsible for an estimated 17 American lives killed in terrorist attacks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Haniyeh\u2019s killing occurred after Israel conducted an airstrike in Beirut, eliminating Fuad Shukr, whom it identified as the military commander of Hezbollah\u2019s terrorist operations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yadlin said that Iran, and\u00a0its proxy Hezbollah<\/a>, would take time before responding, and said that the response would be measured because they were not interested in igniting a full-scale war. \u201cI can see them trying to attack Israelis in the global arena, like embassies and tourists, as they have done in the past,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mohammad Dahlan, former senior official from the Palestinian Authority\u2019s ruling Fatah movement and PA President Mahmoud Abbas\u2019 main rival, condemned the \u201ccowardly\u201d assassination of Haniyeh, who he called a \u201cgreat national leader.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Amidror, Israel had more than a year to complete its campaign of destroying Hamas in Gaza. Another three months of intense conflict were required to eliminate the remaining battalions, primarily based in Rafah, he said, followed by a year of operations to \u201cclean up\u201d the remnants of the terror group in the rest of Gaza. This would involve routine raids into the Palestinian enclave, similar to those conducted in the West Bank during the Second Intifada.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re at the end of the beginning,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2018A Symbolic Achievement\u2019: Haniyeh\u2019s Death a Blow to Hamas, But Will Not Change Terror Group Significantly, Analysts Say Debbie Weiss Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh speaks during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, March 26, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour\/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS The assassination of exiled\u00a0Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh\u00a0has sent shock waves through […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114694"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=114694"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114714,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114694\/revisions\/114714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=114694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=114694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=114694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}