Must watch: 7 eye-opening videos of Haniyeh – understand why he was targeted
Ismail Haniyeh:
“We love death like our enemies love life!”
“We need the blood of the children, women, and elderly” to “ignite within us the spirit of revolution”
“Armed resistance is path, Palestine is from the sea to the river”
“Hamas won’t recognize Israel… armed struggle is a strategic choice”
“We will liberate West Bank and rest of Palestine just as we liberated Gaza – with Intifada”
Chairman of Hamas' Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh, who led Hamas while living comfortably well away from the Gaza Strip, was killed last night in Iran. No one has yet taken responsibility for the assassination.
Haniyeh, who was added to the US terror list by the US State Department on Jan. 31, 2018, is known for advocating the destruction of the State of Israel, for his disregard for human life, and his public celebration of the October 7 atrocities; for his encouraging the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields; and for his support for terror and the kidnapping of Israelis to negotiate the release of terrorists.
Haniyeh has been more popular among Palestinians than PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Polls have repeatedly shown that were elections held now, Palestinians would elect Haniyeh as president over Abbas. In June this year—eight months after Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, a poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) showed that 46% of Palestinians would vote for Ismail Haniyeh. In contrast, Mahmoud Abbas would receive as little as 5% of the votes.
The following are representative statements exposed by Palestinian Media Watch showing Haniyeh’s ideology, beliefs, and policies:
Haniyeh: “We love death like Israelis love life”
Hamas leader Muhammad Deif: “Today you [Israelis] are fighting divine soldiers, who love death for Allah like you love life, and who compete among themselves for Martyrdom like you flee from death.”
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh: “We love death like our enemies love life! We love Martyrdom, the way in which [Hamas] leaders died.”[Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), July 30, 2014]
Haniyeh promotes use of Palestinian civilians as human shields: “We need the blood of the children, women, and elderly” to “ignite within us the spirit of revolution”
Hamas Political Bureau Chairman Ismail Haniyeh: “The blood [spilled] in the Gaza Strip, alongside the resistance and the [Izz A-Din] Al-Qassam [Brigades] (i.e., Hamas’ military wing), will defeat this occupier (i.e., Israel), will defeat this enemy… As I said, and I repeat every time, the blood of the children, women, and elderly – I do not say that it shouts out to you, but rather we need this blood so that it will ignite within us the spirit of revolution, so that it will arouse within us persistence, so that it will arouse within us defiance and [a forward] advance.”
[Website of Al-Jazeera TV, Oct. 26, 2023]
Haniyeh: “Hamas won’t recognize Israel… armed struggle is a strategic choice”
Haniyeh: “The Palestinian factions sometimes differ from one another about the strategic political vision. I declared that we [Hamas] will not recognize Israel, we will not relinquish one inch of the land of Palestine, [and] armed struggle is a strategic choice. But at this stage we are looking for the Palestinian national common [goals].”
[Official PA TV, Sept. 6, 2020]
Haniyeh: “This battle will have a continuation,” in “victory” speech after 2021 Hamas terror war
Haniyeh: “I announce to you this mighty victory that was recorded by the heroic resistance (i.e., Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli cities). This divine, strategic, complex victory at this stage of the conflict with the Zionist enemy… This battle will have a continuation. The success is from Allah first and foremost… We consider this battle a qualitative quantum leap in the history of the conflict with the enemy… The resistance and the resistance as an alternative are the shortest path to liberation and return, because this battle thwarted the illusions of negotiations… thwarted the plans of coexistence with the Zionist occupation (i.e., Israel), thwarted the plans of normalization with the Zionist occupation… Here I must thank those who gave money and weapons to the brave resistance. [Thanks] to the Islamic Republic of Iran, which did not withhold money, weapons, and technologies from this resistance.”
[Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), May 21, 2021]
Headline: “Haniyeh from Teheran: Hamas will never recognize Israel”
“Prime Minister of the dismissed Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, said that the [Hamas] movement ‘will never recognize Israel’, during a speech in Teheran marking the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.
In the speech, which was broadcast on Iranian TV, Haniyeh said that ‘the [Palestinian] struggle will continue up until the liberation of all Palestinian land and Jerusalem, and until the return of all the Palestinian refugees’ to their homes… Haniyeh added, ‘They want us to recognize the Israeli occupation and to abandon resistance, but as the representative of the Palestinian people and in the name of all who long for freedom in the world, I once again emphasize that we will never recognize the State of Israel.’ He added, to the masses, ‘Allah willing, we will meet… in Jerusalem, the liberated capital of Palestine.’”[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Feb. 12, 2012]
Haniyeh: We will liberate West Bank and rest of “Palestine” just as we liberated Gaza – with Intifada
Ismail Haniyeh: “We think that the path of negotiations and peace talks has reached a dead end and that the resistance [Intifada, 2000-2005], which liberated Gaza and defended Gaza, can liberate the West Bank and the rest of the Palestinian lands, Allah willing. Those who liberated Gaza, with the help of Allah, can liberate Jerusalem, the West Bank and the rest of Palestine.”
[Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), May 29, 2014]
Haniyeh glorifies released terrorists who carried out killings, kidnappings, and suicide bombings: They “have written the purest pages of greatness… in history”
Haniyeh speaking at a mosque in Gaza to audience including terrorist prisoners released in the Shalit deal.
Haniyeh: “Each of these heroes has a story, a story of Jihad and a story of heroism. The names here [on the list of released prisoners] are great names. All of them are great. We cannot dwell on any name, or forget any name. But we are speaking of great, mighty names of those who carried out operations of direct killing, operations (i.e., terror attacks) in buses, Martyrdom-seekers (i.e., suicide bombers), kidnappings of soldiers, persecution of settlers, persecution of occupiers – [all] these are heroes! [They are] great! They have written the purest pages of greatness and glory in history.”[Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), Oct. 21, 2011]
Haniyeh urges kidnapping of Israeli soldiers to release terrorists
Haniyeh: “The kidnapping of Israeli soldiers is part of the agenda of the Palestinian resistance and of the Hamas movement, and will continue as long as there are Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli prisons.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 16, 2014]
Haniyeh promises more terrorist prisoner exchange deals for Israeli hostages
Haniyeh: “The prisoners (i.e., terrorists) are really a bleeding wound… We promise them that just as we did the first [prisoner] exchange deal, the Loyalty to the Free deal – [when] more than 1,000 [prisoners] were released in exchange for [Israeli soldier] Shalit – and before that the Popular Front – General Command’s deal in 1985, and before it, Fatah [did prisoner exchange deals] two or three times – [so too] Allah willing we will work to release you and break your chains by all possible means.”
[Official PA TV, Sept. 6, 2020]
Haniyeh promises kidnappings to release terrorists: “The Israelis have to pay a price”
Haniyeh: “We are now watching the exchange deal [between Israel and Hezbollah], and emphasize that for us, too, as the Palestinian people, there is no possibility of our foregoing our prisoners; there is no possibility of our foregoing these heroes. Just as today a respectable exchange took place with the resistance in Lebanon, so we too are determined to achieve a respectable exchange deal for our prisoners in the jails of the Israeli occupation. The Israelis have to pay a price, and they must know that they will pay a price.”
[Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), July 16, 2008]
Haniyeh: Armed resistance is path, Palestine is from the sea to the river
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh: “We say today, explicitly, so it cannot be explained otherwise, that the armed resistance and the armed struggle are the path and the strategic choice for liberating the Palestinian land, from the [Mediterranean] sea to the [Jordan] river, and for the expulsion of the invaders and usurpers [Israel] from the blessed land of Palestine. The Hamas movement will lead Intifada after Intifada until we liberate Palestine – all of Palestine, Allah willing. Allah Akbar and praise Allah. We say with transparency and in a clear manner, that Palestinian reconciliation – and all sides must know this – cannot come at the expense of [our] principles, at the expense of the resistance. These principles are absolute and cannot be disputed: Palestine—all of Palestine—is from the sea to the river. We won't relinquish one inch of the land of Palestine. The involvement of Hamas at any stage with the interim objective of liberation of [only] Gaza, the West Bank, or Jerusalem, does not replace its strategic view concerning Palestine and the land of Palestine.”
[Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), Dec. 14, 2011]