From Yassin to Haniyeh… Key Hamas Leaders Targeted by Israel
Ismail Haniyeh was not the first or the only Hamas leader to be assassinated by Israel.
Since the founding of Hamas in 1987, Israel has assassinated or attempted to kill several of its leaders.
This Wednesday, the movement and Iranian authorities announced the death of Haniyeh at his residence in northern Tehran, sparking fears of a broader escalation in a region already shaken by Israel’s war in Gaza and the worsening conflict in Lebanon.
After Haniyeh‘s death, this is a list of Hamas leaders targeted by Israel either by assassination or attempted murder.
Yahya Ayache
Israel considered Yahya Ayache as the mastermind behind a wave of attacks on Israeli targets.
Ayache, nicknamed “the Engineer,” was killed on January 5, 1996, when his cell phone exploded in his hands.
The Palestinians blamed Israel, which refused to take responsibility. In response, Hamas carried out four attacks that killed 59 people in three Israeli cities over the following two months.
Khaled Mashaal
The former political bureau chief, Khaled Mashaal, became world-famous in 1997 when he survived an assassination attempt by poisoning by Israeli agents in a street outside his office in Amman, the Jordanian capital.
This operation, ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, angered Jordan’s King Hussein to the point that he threatened to annul the Jordanian peace treaty with Israel unless the antidote was delivered.
Israel complied and also agreed to release Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin but assassinated him seven years later in Gaza.
Ahmed Yassin
In March 2004, Israel killed Hamas‘ spiritual leader, Ahmed Yassin, who was quadriplegic, in a rocket attack as he left a mosque in Gaza City.
Israel had already attempted to kill him in 2003 while he was at a Hamas member’s house in Gaza.
His death sparked widespread protests and marked a significant escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi
On April 17, 2004, an Israeli rocket attack killed Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi in his car in Gaza City.
The attack also killed two of his bodyguards.
His assassination came shortly after he assumed the leadership of Hamas in Gaza following Ahmed Yassin’s death.
Adnan al-Ghoul
On October 21, 2004, Adnan al-Ghoul, the head of the military manufacturing unit of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas‘ military wing, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City.
Al-Ghoul, nicknamed “Abu Suroor al-Qassam,” was known for his homemade rockets frequently fired at Israeli cities.
Nizar Rayyan
Considered one of Hamas‘ most radical political leaders, Nizar Rayyan had called for renewed bombings inside Israel.
Two of his four wives and seven of his children were also killed in the bombing of the Jabaliya refugee camp on January 1, 2009.
Said Seyam
A few days after Rayyan’s death, an Israeli airstrike killed Hamas‘ Interior Minister, Said Seyam, in Gaza on January 15.
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Seyam was responsible for 13,000 Hamas police and security officers.
Saleh al-Arouri
An Israeli drone strike in southern Beirut’s suburbs killed Hamas Deputy Leader Saleh al-Arouri on January 2, 2024.
Al-Arouri was also the founder of Hamas‘ military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.
