Ismail Haniyeh

Ismail Abdel Salam Ahmed Haniyeh (Arabic: إسماعيل عبد السلام أحمد هنية‎, Ismaʻīl Haniyya; sometimes transliterated as Haniya, Haniyah or Hanieh; Arabic pronunciation ; born 29 January 1962) is a senior political leader of Hamas and formerly one of two disputed Prime Ministers of the Palestinian National Authority. Haniyeh became prime minister after Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections of 2006. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah–Hamas conflict, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continued to exercise prime ministerial authority in the Gaza Strip. In September 2016, reports indicated Haniyeh would replace Khaled Meshaal as Chief of Hamas's Political Bureau. He was elected as Hamas political chief on 6 May 2017.

The Hamas government of June 2007 led by Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas was the de facto government in the Gaza Strip after a fierce inter-factional Palestinian warfare in the Gaza Strip, in which Hamas ousted Fatah from the Gaza Strip. The Hamas government was not appointed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas nor approved by the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). It exercised de facto rule over the Gaza Strip, and was not recognised by any foreign government.

"Gaza's sky is black but Qatar is always sunny" is a single by the Israeli satirical TV show Eretz Nehederet. Released during the Gaza war, the video features three Israeli comedians, Yaniv Biton, Shahar Hasson, and Mariano Idelman, portraying Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Mashaal and Mousa Abu Marzouk respectively, who are estimated by the Israeli embassy to the United States as having a combined net worth of $11 billion. The song is a parody of Thai rapper Lisa's 2021 single "Money".

The Second Haniyeh Government, also known as the Palestinian National Unity Government of March 2007 (Arabic: المجلس الفلسطيني لآذار 17 2007), was a Palestinian Authority unity government headed by Ismail Haniyeh, the Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority that was formed on 17 March 2007 and dissolved on 14 June 2007.

The Palestinian Authority Government of March 2006, also known as the First Haniyeh Government, was a government of the Palestinian National Authority (PA), led by Ismail Haniyeh, that was sworn in on 29 March 2006 and was followed by the Palestinian unity government of 17 March 2007. On 25 January 2006, Hamas won the election for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) with 44.4% of the vote vs Fatah's 41.4%, and its leader Haniyeh formed the government, which comprised mostly Hamas members as well as four independents, after Fatah and other factions had refused to form a government with Hamas. It was the first Hamas-led PA government in the Palestinian territories.

On 31 July 2024, Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, was assassinated along with his personal bodyguard in the Iranian capital Tehran by an Israeli attack. Haniyeh was killed in his accommodation in a military-run guesthouse after attending the inauguration ceremony for Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian. Nasser Kanaani, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, condemned this assassination and said that Haniyeh's "blood will never be wasted".

The Hamas government of 2012 was the second de facto Hamas government in the Gaza Strip since the takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas in 2007. It was formed on 26 August 2012 and approved by the Gaza-based Hamas members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). As with the first Hamas government, this government was led by Ismail Haniyeh.