Following the unprecedented attack by Hamas against Israel since the beginning of the Gaza war, on October 7, the leaders targeted, accused Israel. Some were killed, some were killed. This is a summary of what happened to famous people in Hamas.
Ismail Haniyeh
Ismail Haniyeh is seen as the overall leader of Hamas. killed, reported in an airstrike on a building he visited in Tehran on July 31, 2024. Iran and Hamas blamed Israel for the attack. A prominent member of Hamas in the late 1980s, Israel imprisoned Haniyeh for three years in 1989 while fighting the first Palestinian uprising. Later, in 1992, he was expelled from the no-man's land between Israel and Lebanon, along with many Hamas leaders. He returned to Gaza years later. In 1997, he was appointed head of the office of the spiritual leader of Hamas, thereby strengthening his position. Haniyeh was appointed Prime Minister of Palestine by President Mahmoud Abbas in 2006 after Hamas won a majority of seats in national elections. However, he was fired a year later amid deadly violence in the Gaza Strip, and Hamas eventually ousted Abbas's Fatah-led coalition from the Gaza Strip. Haniyeh described his expulsion as "unlawful" and Hamas continued to rule Gaza. In 2017, he was appointed head of the most powerful political office of Hamas, and became its general leader. In 2018, the US State Department designated Haniyeh as a terrorist. He has been living in Qatar for the past few years.
Yahya Sinwar
Mohammed Deif
Mohammed Deif is the leader of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas group. He was Israel's most wanted man for decades and was killed in an airstrike last month, according to Israel. Hamas has not supported this. Deif, a figure known to Palestinians as Mastermind and to Israelis as the Cat of Nine Lives. The Israeli authorities arrested people in 1989, during the first Palestinian uprising, and released them a year and a half later. Shortly after that, he formed the al-Qassam army, with the intention of capturing the Israeli army. He also helped plan the construction of a tunnel that allowed Hamas militants to enter Israel from Gaza. Deif accused Israel of planning and overseeing the 1996 car bombing that killed dozens of Israelis and of involvement in the capture and execution of three Israeli soldiers in the mid-1990s. He was arrested by the Palestinian Authority in 2000, but escaped seven months after the start of the second intifada. He became the most wanted man in Israel, but since then it was difficult to leave anything. The worst suicide attempt was in 2002: Deif survived, but lost one of his eyes. Israel said he lost his legs and arms and has difficulty speaking. Israel tried to kill Deif again during the 2014 war in the Gaza Strip, and killed his wife and two children. Deif was one of those accused of planning the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel said he was killed in an airstrike on the Khan Younis camp in Gaza on July 13.
Marwan Issa
Hamas has not confirmed that Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in March 2024, according to the White House. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said he was killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) after Israeli media reported that he died in an underground tunnel in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
The Commander-in-Chief is also known as the Shadow Man and is believed to be Mohammed Deif's right-hand man.
He was on Israel's most wanted list before he was killed and injured in an Israeli attack in 2006.
He was first arrested by Israeli forces during the intifada for his work with Hamas.
He was imprisoned by the Palestinian Authority in 1997, but he was released after the second intifada in 2000. Israeli Air Force destroyed his house twice during the Gaza invasion, in 2014 and 2021, killing his brother . The identity of was not known until 2011, when it appeared in the group's photo that the reception of prisoners was changed.
It is believed that he helped organize the invasion of Israel, including the last one.
Khaled Meshaal
Khaled Meshaal, who was born in the West Bank in 1956, is one of the founders of Hamas. On the direct orders of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad attempted to assassinate Meshal in 1997 while he was living in Jordan. Mossad agents entered Jordan using fake Canadian passports and drugged Meshaal along the way. Jordanian authorities discovered the assassination and arrested two Mossad members. The late King Hussein of Jordan asked the Prime Minister of Israel about the drug that was injected into the Meshaal. Under pressure from US President Bill Clinton, Netanyahu reversed his earlier refusal. Meshaal, who lives in Qatar, visited the Gaza Strip for the first time in 2012. He was welcomed by the Palestinian Authority and a large crowd of Palestinians. In 2017, Hamas appointed Ismail Haniyeh to replace Meshaal as the head of its political office, and Meshaal became the head of the group's foreign political office.Mahmoud Zahar
Mahmúd Zahar was born in Gaza in 1945 to a Palestinian father and an Egyptian mother. He is considered one of the most important leaders of Hamas, and a political member of the movement. He went to school in Gaza and university in Cairo, then worked as a doctor in Gaza and Khan Younis until he was fired by the Israeli authorities because of his political position. Mahmoud Zahar was imprisoned in an Israeli prison in 1988, months after the founding of Hamas. He was among the people expelled from Israel in 1992, where he stayed for a year. After Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian general election, Zahar joined the foreign government formed by the new Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh before being fired. Israel tried to kill Zahar in 2003 when a plane bombed his house in Gaza. The attack caused minor injuries but killed her son, Khaled. His second son, Hossam, a member of the al-Qassam Brigades, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in 2008.
