DUBAI/LONDON: Ismail Haniyeh is the Hamas chief primarily based in Qatar, who has been the tough-talking face of the Palestinian group’s worldwide diplomacy as conflict has raged again in Gaza, the place three of his sons had been killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Now he faces the potential of authorized motion after the Worldwide Felony Courtroom prosecutor’s workplace mentioned on Monday (Might 20) it had requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence chief and three Hamas leaders – together with Haniyeh – for alleged conflict crimes.
Israel has denied committing conflict crimes within the Gaza conflict, triggered by the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct 7 that killed 1,200 individuals and created a hostage disaster for the far-right authorities after greater than 250 individuals had been taken to Gaza.
The ICC’s choice “equates the sufferer with the executioner”, a senior Hamas official instructed Reuters.
Will probably be as much as the courtroom’s pre-trial judges to find out whether or not there’s ample proof to concern warrants.
Haniyeh was appointed to the Hamas prime job in 2017. He has moved between Turkey and Qatar’s capital Doha, escaping the journey curbs of the blockaded Gaza Strip and enabling him to behave as a negotiator in ceasefire talks or to speak to Hamas’ ally Iran.
“All of the agreements of normalisation that you just (Arab states) signed with (Israel) won’t finish this battle,” Haniyeh declared on Qatar-based Al Jazeera tv shortly after Hamas fighters launched the Oct 7 raid.
Israel’s response to the strike has been a army marketing campaign that has killed greater than 35,000 individuals inside Gaza up to now, in keeping with well being authorities within the territory.
SONS KILLED IN AIRSTRIKE
Three of Haniyeh’s sons – Hazem, Amir and Mohammad – had been killed on April 10 when an Israeli air strike struck the automobile they had been driving, Hamas mentioned. Haniyeh additionally misplaced 4 of his grandchildren, three ladies and a boy, within the assault, Hamas mentioned.
Haniyeh denied Israeli assertions that his sons had been fighters for the group and mentioned “the pursuits of the Palestinian individuals are positioned forward of every part” when requested if their killing would affect truce talks.
For all of the powerful language in public, Arab diplomats and officers view him as comparatively pragmatic in contrast with extra hardline voices inside Gaza, the place the army wing of Hamas deliberate the Oct 7 assault.
Whereas telling Israel’s army they might discover themselves “drowning within the sands of Gaza”, he and his predecessor as Hamas chief, Khaled Meshaal, have shuttled across the area for talks over a Qatari-brokered ceasefire cope with Israel that would come with exchanging hostages for Palestinians in Israeli jails in addition to extra assist for Gaza.
Israel regards your entire Hamas management as terrorists, accusing Haniyeh, Meshaal and others of continuous to “pull the strings of the Hamas terror organisation.”
However how a lot Haniyeh knew in regards to the Oct 7 assault beforehand shouldn’t be clear. The plan, drawn up by the Hamas army council in Gaza, was such a intently guarded secret that some Hamas officers appeared shocked by its timing and scale.
But Haniyeh, a Sunni Muslim, had a serious hand in increase Hamas’ combating capability, partly by nurturing ties with Shi’ite Muslim Iran, which makes no secret of its help for the group.
Throughout the decade during which Haniyeh was Hamas’ prime chief in Gaza, Israel accused his management group of serving to to divert humanitarian assist to the group’s army wing. Hamas denied it.
