Ismail Haniyeh

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article documents a current event.
Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

إسماعيل هنية Ismail Haniyeh

5th Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority
Incumbent
Assumed office March 29, 2006
Preceded by	Ahmed Qurei

Born	?, 1963 Al-Shati refugee camp, Gaza
Political party	Hamas

Ismail Haniyeh (sometimes written Ismail Haniya), born January 1963, (Arabic: إسماعيل هنية) is the Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority and a senior political leader of Hamas. He was nominated as the candidate for Prime Minister on February 16, 2006 following the Hamas "List of Change and Reform" victory in the Palestinian legislative election of January 25, 2006 and was sworn in as Prime Minister on March 29, 2006. He resigned on February 15, 2007 as part of the process to allow a unity government between Hamas and Fatah.^[1]. He was sworn in on March 18, 2007 as head of the new cabinet.

1 Biography
2 Response to prospective appointment
3 Quotes
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Biography

Haniyeh was born in the Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza. His parents became refugees after they fled their homes in what is now the city of Ashkelon in Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. In 1987, he graduated from the Islamic University of Gaza with a degree in Arabic literature. In 1989, he was imprisoned for three years by Israeli authorities, and following his release in 1992, he was deported to Lebanon. A year later, he returned to Gaza and was appointed as Dean of the Islamic University.

After the release from prison in 1997 of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Hamas' spiritual leader, Haniyeh was appointed to head his office. He was targeted by the Israeli Army for his alleged involvement in attacks against Israeli citizens. Following a suicide bombing in Jerusalem in 2003, he was slightly injured on his hand by an Israeli Air Force bomb attack attempting to eliminate the Hamas leadership. His position within Hamas continued to strengthen during the Al-Aqsa Intifada due to his relationship with Yassin, and because of the assassinations of much of the Hamas leadership by the Israeli Security Forces. In December 2005, Haniyeh was elected to head the Hamas list, which in January 2006 won the Palestinian Legislative Council elections.

On February 16, 2006, Hamas nominated Haniyeh for Palestinian Prime Minister, and was formally presented as such to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on February 20. On June 30, 2006, the Israeli Government threatened to assassinate Haniyeh if Hamas militants did not release the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit unharmed. Hamas's Gaza-based political leaders, including Haniyeh, subsequently went into hiding. Early October 2006 he has repeated his refusal to recognize Israel. His political adviser said he still is optimistic that an agreement with Mahmoud Abbas can be reached to stop a call for new elections.^[2]

On October 20, 2006, on the eve of a deal to end factional fighting between Fatah and Hamas, Haniyeh's convoy came under gun fire in Gaza and one of the cars was set on fire.^[3] Haniyeh was not hurt in the attack. Hamas sources said that this was not an assassination attempt. PNA security sources reported that the attackers were the relatives of a Fatah man killed by clashes with Hamas. ^[4]

On December 14, 2006, Haniyeh was denied entry to Gaza from Egypt at the Rafah border crossing. The border crossing was closed by EU monitors by order of the Israeli defense minister Amir Peretz. Haniyeh was returning to Gaza from his first official trip abroad as Palestinian Prime Minister. He was reported to have an estimated $30 million cash in international donations on hand, meant for the Palestinian National Authority. Israeli authorities later stated that they would allow Haniyeh to cross the border provided he leave the money in Egypt, which would reportedly be transferred to an Arab League bank account in Egypt. A gun battle between Hamas militants and the Palestinian Presidential Guard was reported at the Rafah border crossing in response to the incident. The EU monitors who operate the crossing were reportedly evacuated safely. ^[5] When Haniyeh later attempted to cross the border, an exchange of gunfire left one bodyguard dead and Haniyeh's eldest son wounded. That incident was denounced by Hamas as an attempt by rival Fatah on Haniyeh's life, prompting firefights in the West Bank and Gaza City between Fatah forces. Haniyeh was quoted as saying that he knew who the alleged perpetrators were, but declined to identify them and appealed for Palestinian unity. Egypt has since offered to mediate the situation.^[6]

[edit] Response to prospective appointment

Israel decided to implement a series of punitive measures (including de facto economic sanctions) against the Palestinian Authority following the 2006 Hamas election victory. Israel's acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced that Israel would not transfer to the Palestinian Authority an estimated $50 million per month in tax receipts collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. Haniyeh dismissed Israeli economic sanctions against the Palestinian Authority, stating that Hamas would neither disarm nor recognise Israel.

Haniyeh expressed regret that Hamas was subjected to punitive measures, adding that "it [Israel] should have responded differently to the democracy expressed by the Palestinian people".

The United States government, who consider his Hamas organisation as a terrorist organisation, demanded that $50 million dollars in unexpended foreign aid funds for the Palestinian Authority be returned to the United States, which Palestinian Economic Minister Mazen Sonokrot agreed to do. ^[7] On the loss of foreign aid from the United States and EU, Haniyeh commented that: "The West is always using its donations to apply pressure on the Palestinian people." ^[8]

[edit] Quotes

"The answer is to let Israel say it will recognize a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, release the prisoners, and recognize the rights of the refugees to return to Palestine. Hamas will have a position if this occurs."^[9]

"We will never recognize the usurper Zionist government and will continue our jihad-like movement until the liberation of Jerusalem"^[10]

"The underlying problem remains the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and the continuing Israeli assaults against our people."^[11]