Why Israel assassinated Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh

Analysis
By Editor_1
Surrounded by Iranian lawmakers, Ismail Haniyeh, the chief political leader of Hamas, flashes a victory sign at a swearing-in ceremony for President Masoud Pezeshkian, in Tehran on Tuesday (July 30, 2024). Haniyeh was assassinated hours later, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said, a severe blow to the Palestinian group that threatens to engulf the region in further conflict. Both Iran and Hamas accused Israel of the killing -Arash Khamooshi/The New York Times
By Ramzy Baroud 

Israel’s assassination of the head of Hamas’ political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, on Wednesday (July 31) is part of Tel Aviv’s overall desperate search for a wider conflict. It is a criminal act that reeks of desperation.

Almost immediately after the start of the Gaza war on October 7, Israel hoped to use the genocide in the Strip as an opportunity to achieve its long-term goal of a regional war – one that would rope in Washington as well as Iran and other Middle Eastern countries.

Despite unconditional support for its genocide in Gaza, and various conflicts throughout the region, the United States refrained from entering a direct war against Iran and others. Though defeating Iran is an American strategic objective, the US lacks the will and tools to pursue it now.

After ten months of a failed war on Gaza and a military stalemate against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israel is, once more, accelerating its push for a wider conflict. This time around, however, Israel is engaging in a high-stakes game, the most dangerous of its previous gambles.

The current gamble involved the targeting of a top Hezbollah leader by bombing a residential building in Beirut on Tuesday (July 30), – and, of course, the assassination of Palestine’s most visible, let alone popular political leader. Haniyeh has succeeded in forging and strengthening ties with Russia, China, and other countries beyond the US-western political domain.

Israel chose the place and timing of killing Haniyeh carefully. The Palestinian leader was killed in the Iranian capital, shortly after he attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian.

The Israeli message was a compound one, to Iran’s new administration – that of Israel’s readiness to escalate further – and to Hamas, that Israel has no intentions to end the war or to reach a negotiated ceasefire.

The latter point is perhaps the most urgent. For months, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has done everything in his power to impede all diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war. By killing the top Palestinian negotiator, Israel delivered a final and decisive message that Israel remains invested in violence, and in nothing else.

The scale of the Israeli provocations, however, poses a great challenge to the pro-Palestinian camp in the Middle East, namely, how to respond with equally strong messages without granting Israel its wish of embroiling the whole region in a destructive war.

Considering the military capabilities of what is known as the ‘Axis of Resistance’, Iran, Hezbollah and others are certainly capable of managing this challenge despite the risk factors involved.

Equally important regarding timing: the Israeli dramatic escalation in the region, followed a visit by Netanyahu to Washington, which, aside from many standing ovations at the US Congress, didn’t fundamentally alter the US position, predicated on the unconditional support for Israel without direct US involvement in a regional war.

Additionally, Israel’s recent clashes involving the army, military police, and the supporters of the far right suggest that an actual coup in Israel might be a real possibility. In the words of Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid: Israel is not nearing the abyss, Israel is already in the abyss.

It is, therefore, clear to Netanyahu and his far-right circle that they are operating within an increasingly limited time and margins.

By killing Haniyeh, a political leader who has essentially served the role of a diplomat, Israel demonstrated the extent of its desperation and the limits of its military failure.

Considering the criminal extent to which Israel is willing to go, such desperation could eventually lead to the regional war that Israel has been trying to instigate, even before the Gaza war.

Keeping in mind Washington’s weakness and indecision in the face of Israel’s intransigence, Tel Aviv might achieve its wish of a regional war after all.

– Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle where this article was originally featured

 

 

Editor_1
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