The Israeli army claims to have attacked the home of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya in the Gaza Strip. The building was used as a “terrorist infrastructure” and often served as a meeting point for senior Hamas leaders, the military said today.
Attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers were also directed from there. The building was attacked by fighter jets.
Haniya, chairman of the Hamas Politburo, has lived in Qatar with her family for years. Hamas circles said the house was empty during the attack. Hanija left the Gaza Strip in 2019. Most of his family, including his wife and children, no longer lived there.
Head of Hamas since 2017
Haniya has been chairman of Hamas’s political bureau since 2017. He was confirmed in the role for another four years by the radical Islamic group’s Shura Council in 2021. He is considered the “overarching” head of Islamic Hamas, while Jahja Sinwar is the head of the Hamas Strip. of Gaza. Hanija was born in 1963 in the Al-Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip and grew up there in poor conditions.
Hamas was founded in 1987 during the first Palestinian uprising (Intifada) against Israeli occupation as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. The Politburo is considered the highest decision-making body and has 15 members.