The Palestinian militant group Hamas announced the assassination of its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, early Wednesday in Iran. The killing has heightened concerns about a broader escalation in a region already tense due to Israel’s conflict in Gaza and a growing dispute in Lebanon.
Yahya Ayyash
Known as “The Engineer,” Yahya Ayyash was a mastermind behind numerous Palestinian suicide attacks. He was assassinated on January 5, 1996, when his cell phone exploded in his hands in Gaza. Although Israel did not claim responsibility, Palestinians blamed it for the attack. Hamas retaliated with four suicide attacks, killing 59 people in three Israeli cities in February and March 1996.
Khaled Meshaal
In 1997, former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal survived an assassination attempt by Israeli agents who injected him with poison in Amman, Jordan. The botched hit, ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, led to significant diplomatic fallout. Jordan’s King Hussein demanded the antidote and the release of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was later assassinated by Israel in 2004.
Ahmed Yassin
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the quadriplegic co-founder and spiritual leader of Hamas, was killed in a helicopter missile strike by Israel on March 22, 2004, in Gaza City. His assassination triggered massive demonstrations and widespread outrage in the Palestinian territories and the Muslim world, marking a significant escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Abdel-Aziz Al-Rantisi
On April 17, 2004, Hamas commander Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi was killed in an Israeli helicopter missile strike in Gaza City. His assassination followed the killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, plunging Hamas leadership into hiding and marking another blow to the group’s command structure.
Adnan Al-Ghoul
Adnan Al-Ghoul, a leading Hamas bomb maker and the “Father of the Qassam” rocket, was killed in an Israeli air strike on October 21, 2004, in Gaza City. His death dealt a significant blow to Hamas’s military capabilities.
Nizar Rayyan
Nizar Rayyan, a hardline political leader of Hamas, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on January 1, 2009, in the Jabalya refugee camp. The strike also killed two of his wives and seven of his children. Days later, on January 15, 2009, another airstrike killed Saeed Seyyam, Hamas’s interior minister.
Saleh Al-Arouri
Deputy Hamas chief Saleh al-Arouri was killed in an Israeli drone strike on January 2, 2024, in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Al-Arouri was a founding member of Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades.
Ismail Haniyeh
Haniyeh was assassinated early Wednesday morning in Iran. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed his death, stating he was staying at a special residence for war veterans in north Tehran. Iranian media reported that Haniyeh’s residence was hit by an airborne projectile. His death, following his attendance at a swearing-in ceremony for Iran’s new president, has sparked significant concern over potential retaliation and further escalation in the region.
The ongoing targeting of key Palestinian leaders by Israel underscores the intense and enduring conflict between the two sides, with each assassination marking a pivotal moment in the fraught history of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle.
