Condemn the murder of Ismail Haniya

Written by: Nick G. on 1 August 2024

(Above: Ismail Haniya together with anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews. Source: Torah Jews on X)

The Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist) unequivocally condemns the murder of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya on July 31 by the Israeli Zionists.

The assassination, by an Israel air strike in Teheran, Iran, is designed to frustrate moves towards a ceasefire in Gaza.

Ismail Haniya was instrumental in negotiating the terms of a ceasefire, which the Zionists have opposed. Israel has been increasingly isolated in its opposition to an internationally backed ceasefire proposal for which Hamas had expressed support.

Haniya also encouraged the overcoming of divisions within the Palestinian resistance, and particularly those between Hamas and the West Bank Palestinian Authority led by Fatah.

Just over a week before his assassination, Haniya had encouraged the meeting of representatives of 14 Palestinian organisations in Beijing.

This reconciliation dialogue resulted in a recognition by all participants of the Palestine Liberation Organisation as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

The declaration also stated that a temporary national reconciliation government will be formed according to the consensus of Palestinian factions and the current Basic Law of the Palestine, to undertake Gaza reconstruction and prepare for general elections as soon as possible in accordance with the adopted electoral law. It endorsed the principle of “Palestinians governing Palestinians”.

For the sake of unity, all representatives endorsed the “two state solution”, also favoured by “honest broker” Beijing. China favours Israel’s continued existence. China has been Israel's third largest trading partner globally; bilateral trade volume increased from $50 million in 1992 to over $10 billion in 2013. Technology and armaments are major components of this trade relationship.

Israel immediately denounced the agreement within the Palestinian resistance, and imperialists led by the US reaffirmed their rejection of any governing body for Gaza which included Hamas. In this way do the great “defenders of democracy” show their contempt for the will of the people.

Israel’s “right to defend itself” has always meant its right to commit aggression against its neighbours, and to conduct targeted assassinations and bombings within their borders.

Within hours of murdering Haniya, Israel launched an airstrike on a southern residential suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut, claiming to have killed a top Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukr, in retaliation for Hezbollah’s alleged bombing in the Golan Heights, a Syrian territory illegally occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six Days War.

Israeli genocide is not limited to the targeted assassination of the leaders of resistance organisations. Whole families are murdered in an attempt to intimidate the leaders and break their will.

In Haniya’s case, fourteen members of his family were killed in an Israeli airstrike on his family home in Gaza City, among them a brother and nephew in retaliation for October 7. In November 2023, a granddaughter of his was reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. Later that month his eldest grandson was killed in an Israeli strike. Three of his sons and three grandchildren were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip on 10 April 2024. On 25 June 2024, ten members of his family, including his 80-year-old sister, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in al-Shati refugee camp.

This terrible price had not intimidated Ismail Haniya, nor broken his will.

And neither will Haniya’s assassination stop the Palestinian people from continuing their fight for freedom.