DOHA, (PIC)
Khalil Al-Hayya, the deputy head of the Hamas Movement in the Gaza Strip, said that the martyrdom of the head of the Movement’s political bureau, Ismail Haneyya, has given the Palestinian people and their resistance a new spirit, new determination, and new strength.
In a speech on Sunday at the mourning house of the martyr Haneyya in the Qatari capital Doha, Al-Hayya stressed that “the martyrdom of the leader Ismail Haneyya revived the nation anew, just as the Al-Aqsa Flood on the seventh of last October revived the nation’s determination and struggle for the imminent liberation of Palestine from the usurpers.”
He noted, “The martyr Haneyya was faithful to the principles of our people and our nation, and was keen and trustworthy on the nation’s sanctities.”
The Hamas official added, “Haneyya was the prime minister of the Palestinian people, and of the resistance of the people who aspire for freedom and return.”
He affirmed that Haneyya has always been an inspiration with his words, sermons, biography, and ethics “that would live with us until we die.”
The Hamas leader considered that the unification of the entire nation in praying for the martyr Ismail Haneyya “is an indication of the nation’s embrace of his choice, which is advancing towards the achievement of our legitimate rights.”
He drew attention to the fact that the Hamas Movement and the Palestinian resistance factions “came and stood as one body to receive the condolences for the martyrdom of their brother, the leader Ismail.”
He thanked Qatar and its people for the “great arrangements” for the condolence tent of the martyr leader, affirming, “The condolence was befitting of Qatar, the nation, and Ismail Haneyya.”
He expressed gratitude to the leaders of the factions and the national forces “who came from everywhere to participate in our collective condolences for the martyrdom of our brother Ismail Haneyya, all appreciation to our brothers in the factions, and we say to them: This is our path and your path, our path towards freedom.”
He stressed that the Islamic and Arab nation have come to offer condolences for the martyrdom of the leader Ismail Haneyya, “all of them came feeling that we have lost something precious in this nation.”
He said, “We will continue on the path of struggle, jihad, and resistance until the liberation of Palestine, by the grace of Almighty Allah,” affirming, “Our will is strong and solid, it cannot be broken by the martyrdom of a leader, nor two, nor three, for we are proceeding, by the will of Allah.”
Addressing the lovers of Hamas and the Palestinian people, Al-Hayya said, “Do not worry about Hamas, for a leader has departed, but the Movement is managed by institutions, so there is no vacuum with the martyrdom of the leader.”
Al-Hayya concluded his speech, “We are a united leadership thanks to Allah, we hold our meetings and manage our affairs with full responsibility and love amongst us. It is only a matter of days before we conclude our consultations to choose a new leader for the Hamas Movement.”
The head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haneyya, was martyred at dawn on last Wednesday, in an assassination operation that targeted him at his place of residence in the Iranian capital Tehran, after his participation in the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president.
Ismail Haneyya, who hails from the town of Al-Jura in the Asqalan district, was born in 1963 in the Shati refugee camp west of the city of Gaza. He was known for his closeness to the Movement’s founder, the martyr Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, as he worked as the director of his office for years.
Throughout his life, he was arrested in the Israeli occupation prisons more than once, was deported to Marj Al-Zahour in southern Lebanon, and survived several assassination attempts, the most prominent of which was in 2003 when he was with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
After Hamas’s victory in the legislative elections, Ismail Haneyya headed the tenth Palestinian government, which was subjected to a suffocating Israeli siege. He had a famous statement at the time, saying, “We will eat thyme, salt and olives, and we will not bow our heads, we will not be humiliated, and we will not retreat.”
In 2017, Ismail Haneyya assumed the chairmanship of the Hamas political bureau after elections were held within the Shura Council of the Movement, and he was known as the political face of Hamas and as a calm man, with a solid and sound discourse and opinion.
The Israeli occupation army had killed a number of members of Ismail Haneyya’s family during the current war, including 3 of his sons, 7 of his grandchildren, and his two sisters, and also bombed his home in the Shati refugee camp in the city of Gaza.
