3 times slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh proved he wasn't a 'moderate'

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Monday, August 05, 2024

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, killed in an Israeli airstrike last week, has been framed as a "moderate" by several media outlets, a claim that does not align with clips of Haniyeh celebrating Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attacks and leading a crowd in calling for the massacre of Jews.

Haniyeh, the political leader of the Palestinian terror group Hamas in Gaza who was in his early 60s, was killed after he attended the swearing-in ceremony of new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran last Tuesday. 

Haniyeh was born in a refugee camp near Gaza City and joined Hamas in the 1980s during the First Intifada, CNN reported. The Intifada from 1987 to 1990 began as what the Anti-Defamation League described as a "spontaneous outburst" that escalated after the political and military organization Fatah supplied civilians with firearms. Masses of civilians attacked Israeli soldiers with stones, axes, Molotov cocktails, hand grenades and firearms, a conflict that Israeli soldiers weren't prepared to fight. 

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Haniyeh was imprisoned several times for participating in the uprising before he was deported to Gaza, where he climbed the ranks within the Hamas terrorist organization.

As a political leader for the terror group, Haniyeh was a "key interlocutor" in hostage negotiations and ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, according to CNN.

Reuters described him as the "moderate face of Hamas," reporting that he was "seen by many diplomats as a moderate compared to the more hardline members of the Iran-backed group inside Gaza."

Various news outlets reported that BBC used similar language when reporting on Haniyeh’s death, stating that the Hamas leader was seen as a “moderate” despite his “tough rhetoric.”

While some outlets have reported that diplomats described the Hamas leader as "pragmatic" and "moderate," Haniyeh's past suggests otherwise. 

The following pages highlight three times the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh proved he was not a "moderate."