Gaza Ceasefire Talks Threaten by Haniyeh’s Killing
- August 1, 2024
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Murder Ismail HaniaHamas’ top political leader and chief negotiator with Israel for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, has stalled discussions on ending the war, which marks its
Murder Ismail HaniaHamas’ top political leader and chief negotiator with Israel for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, has stalled discussions on ending the war, which marks its 300th day today, as it continues. risk of regional escalation.
Haniyeh has been holding indirect talks with Israel since November. with the mediation of the USA, Egypt and Qatarand although little is officially known, sources close to the negotiations did believe that the political leader was more willing to give in and agree; while the leader of the group in the enclave, Yahya Sinwar, who has the final say on the fate of the kidnapped people, was ruthless.
“The agreement represents the only real path to freedom for the hostages, an end to the conflict and the beginning of the process of reconstruction and recovery in the region,” the Families Forum said in a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today. The hostages, realizing that Hania’s death complicates the situation.
Netanyahu has not yet commented on the future of the negotiations.Despite concerns from the families of the 111 kidnapped people who remain in the enclave, his office said Army hostage coordinator Gal Hirsch and other advisers met today to discuss the issue, without giving details.
Photo: Routers
The Islamist group has been all but decapitated: not only by the “selective killing” of Haniyeh yesterday in Tehran, in an attack attributed but not claimed by Israel; but also by the confirmation today of the killing of the top commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, Mohamed Deif, in a suicide attack acknowledged by Israel twenty days ago in Mawasi, southern Gaza.
Deif represented the hardline, militant wing of Hamas’s leadership – along with the group’s leader in the enclave, Yahya Sinwar, both were seen as masterminds of the October 7 attack; compared to Haniyeh, the politburo president, he is more pragmatic and open to negotiations not only with Israel but also with the rival Palestinian faction, the secular Fatah.
With Haniyeh out of the equation (Israel also killed the exiled political bureau’s “number two,” Saleh al-Arouri, in January in Beirut), Sinwar, supposedly hidden in the Khan Younis tunnels and accessible to only a few, remains almost as the only force in the group, with a much more intransigent stance on the ceasefire.
However, Hamas’s internal structures allow it to quickly resume its leadership after the death of its leaders. something that has been a constant in the group’s history. At the moment, the most likely successor appears to be Khaled Meshaal, from whom Haniyeh took over as head of the group in 2017 and who remains in the politburo, also from Qatar.
In addition to the Hamas casualties, Two days ago, Israel also killed Hezbollah military chief Fuad Shukr.during an attack in Beirut. Both the Al-Qassam Brigades, a Lebanese Shiite group, and Iran have vowed to retaliate for the “selective killings,” raising fears of an escalation in a regional war parallel to the one in Gaza that has killed more than 39,500 Palestinians in 300 days.
According to media leaks, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei would order a “direct response” to Israel; and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is now threatening a “new phase in the battle against the Zionists.”
Photo: Routers
“We are prepared for any scenario, both defensive and offensive. We will take a very high price for any act of aggression,” Netanyahu warned today.
Little is known about the death of Haniyeh, who was honored in Tehran today and will be buried tomorrow in Qatar, but The New York Times reported, citing official American and Middle Eastern sources, that the assassination was planned months ago and was carried out with a remote-controlled bomb that was planted and camouflaged in the room where the Hamas leader slept.
Haniyeh, who was in Iran for the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian, stayed at the Revolutionary Guards’ protocol house, the same room he stayed in during his frequent trips to Tehran.
The attack, which if confirmed would be a huge security breach for Iran, also killed his bodyguard Waseem Abu Saaban, but Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nakhale, who was in the next room, survived.
EFE
Source: Aristegui Noticias
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