Why The Killing Of Hamas Chief Haniyeh Is Shocking But Not Unexpected

While Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh's assassination in Iran's capital Tehran mere hours after the swearing-in ceremony of President Masoud Pezeshkian has created shockwaves across the world, the response to the killing is expected to be imminent, and, possibly, tectonic.

Haniyeh was, after all, the political chief of a group labelled a terror entity by the US and many others. In fact, some had designated the group so long before they listed Al Qaeda in the same bracket. The likes of Al Qaeda saw a more rapid ascent in using violence globally, culminating with the 9/11 terror attacks in the US, which also launched a two-decade-long 'war on terror'. The likes of Hamas, on the other hand, confined themselves around the issue of both the sovereignty of Palestine and a fundamental ideological aversion to the state of Israel.

The killing of Haniyeh is shocking but not unexpected. In November 2023, a month after Hamas orchestrated the terror attack against Israel - from which the group continues to hold hostages - the Israeli establishment had made it clear that it would go after the leadership of the likes of Hamas in Gaza, the Hezbollah in Lebanon, and others. Back then, the Yemen-based Ansrallah (more popularly known as the Houthis) was not as big an actor as it has today become, specifically in the Red Sea theatre. At Pezeshkian's swearing-in, the leadership of all these groups, known more formally as the 'Axis of Resistance', were in attendance.