KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — The head of Hamas, Ismail Abdulsalam Ahmed Haniyeh, was assassinated in Tehran, Iran today, the Palestinian movement’s political bureau member Musa Abu Marzuk confirmed today.

Musa described the assassination as a cowardly act and one that will not go unanswered.

But who was Ismail Haniyeh? And what was his relationship with Malaysia?

Here’s a brief background:

Early Days

Ismail was born in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza to parents who fled from the city of Asqalan after the state of Israel was created in 1948.

He graduated with a degree in Arabic literature at the al-Azhar Institute in Gaza and joined a precursor to the Islamic student bloc while studying.

Before Hamas was founded, and afterwards

Ismail took part in the first Palestinian mass uprising against the Israeli occupation, known as the first intifada, and which subsequently led to official founding of Hamas.

For that, he was imprisoned for 18 days in 1987. He was sent back to jail for six months a year later, and in 1989, he spent another three years behind bars, this time on charges that he was a part of Hamas, even as the intifada continued.

Israel deported Ismail along with other senior Hamas leaders to southern Lebanon for a year after their release from prison. But they went back to Gaza after the 1993 Oslo Accords, the pair of agreements for a temporary truce signed between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO).

In 1997, Ismail was described as a close aide and assistant of Hamas’ cofounder, the late Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

In 2003, Ismail and Ahmad Yassin met in an apartment block in downtown Gaza, which was air raided by the Israeli; the two men escaped death.

However, Ahmad Yassin was targeted and killed in another Israeli air strike as he left a mosque after the early morning prayer a few months later.

In 2006, Ismail led Hamas to a legislative election victory over another Palestinian political movement called Fatah, which had been in power for more than a decade.

In May, 2017, Ismail was elected as the leader of Hamas replacing Khalid Meshaal.

Ismail briefly served as the Palestinian Authority (PA) until he was dismissed after just one year by President Mahmoud Abbas, the chairman of the PLO since 2004.

But Ismail remained the de facto leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, until his death today.

On several occasions, Ismail has said he would accept a Palestinian state on the borders of 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital.

He has also said that the Hamas government would be willing to work with Western governments that vow to support the rights of Palestinians.

On October 7 last year, the day of the Hamas attack on Israel, Ismail was in Turkiye and gave a televised speech in which he cited threats to the Al-Aqsa mosque, the Israeli blockade of Gaza, and plight of Palestinian refugees.

“How many times have we warned you that the Palestinian people have been living in refugee camps for 75 years, and you refuse to recognise the rights of our people?” he asked.

Relationship with Malaysia

After Hamas’ retaliation against Israel last October, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim made a phone call to Ismail and affirmed Malaysia's unwavering support for the Palestinian people and its bid for liberation.

In May this year, Anwar finally met Ismail in person in Qatar during a three-day visit.

At that time, a delegation from the US Treasury Department, including Brian Nelson, its chief sanctions policy, was in Malaysia to discuss Washington DC’s concerns that Iran is allegedly using Malaysian entities to finance militant groups such as Hamas.

In the meeting, Anwar requested Hamas to consider the views of various parties to seek a speedy and peaceful settlement of the Gaza conflict.

He reiterated Malaysia’s commitment for an end to the attacks on Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that is under siege by the Israeli military.

Anwar described Malaysia as a friend to Palestine and said he has a duty to help secure a peaceful resolution to the decades-long Middle Eastern conflict.

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