Hamas leadership begins Haniyeh successor process

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement confirmed on Saturday that the process to find a successor to Ismail Haniyeh has started. The head of the movement’s political bureau was assassinated by Israel on 31 July while in Tehran to attend the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

“We reassure the Palestinian people that the movement’s executive institutions and Shura [Consultative] Council are continuing their work and have effective and practical mechanisms to continue the resistance even in the most difficult circumstances,” said Hamas in a media statement. It added that the names being suggested in the media as possible successors to Haniyeh “are false”.

Hamas noted that Haniyeh’s killing was not only a loss for the movement, but also for the people of occupied Palestine, as well as the Arab and Muslim world, and free and honourable people around the globe. “The widespread interaction and expressions of solidarity from the East and the West are clear indications of this.”

The movement described the assassination as “immoral and criminal”, and insisted that it will only serve to increase the strength and determination of Hamas and the legitimate Palestinian resistance against the illegal occupation of Palestine. It pointed out that this has also happened in the past when other leaders were martyred by the occupation state and their successors were appointed according to the regulations and processes in place.

READ: Israeli strikes on schools ‘continuation of Nazi-like genocide’, Hamas says