- Title: Haniyeh re-elected as chief of Palestinian Islamist group Hamas
- Date: 1st August 2021
- Summary: HAMAS LEADER IN GAZA, ISMAIL HANIYEH, WAVING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HAMAS LEADER IN GAZA ISMAIL HANIYEH, SAYING: "During the battle, 51 days, Al-Qassam and the resistance had the final word: they began the war by striking Haifa and ended it by striking Haifa." HAMAS SUPPORTERS AT SCENE GAZA CITY, GAZA (FILE - MAY 01, 2017) (REUTERS) HAMAS GAZA CHIEF, YEHYA AL-SINWAR (LEFT), AND HAMAS LEADER ISMAIL HANIYEH (RIGHT) GREETING ONE ANOTHER AL-SINWAR AND ISMAIL HANIYEH DURING THE CEREMONY PEOPLE AT CEREMONY LISTENING TO MESHAAL SPEECH TAKING PLACE IN DOHA DEIR AL BALAH, GAZA (OCTOBER 29, 2018) (REUTERS) HAMAS LEADER, ISMAIL HANIYEH, ATTENDING FUNERAL MEN CARRYING BODY OUT OF MOSQUE, SHOOTING HEARD IN BACKGROUND (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HAMAS LEADER, ISMAIL HANIYEH, SAYING: "The Zionist enemy (Israel) will never have a place on the political map of the region." GAZA CITY, GAZA (FILE - MARCH 27, 2019) (REUTERS) HAMAS' LEADER ISMAEL HANIYEH WALKING PAST THE RUBBLE OF HIS BOMBED OFFICE AND ENTERING NEIGHBOURING BUILDING VARIOUS OF HANIYEH TALKING TO FAMILY NEAR HIS OFFICE WHOSE HOME WAS DAMAGED DURING BOMBING VARIOUS OF HANIYEH'S BOMBED OFFICE SIDON, SOUTH LEBANON (FILE - SEPTEMBER 6, 2020) (REUTERS) BANNER SHOWING HAMAS LEADER, ISMAIL HANIYEH, READING (Arabic): "PALESTINIAN REFUGEES IN LEBANON WELCOME LEADER ISMAIL HANIYEH" VARIOUS OF HANIYEH AMONG CROWDS PEOPLE HOLDING HIM OVER SHOULDERS
- Embargoed: 15th August 2021 14:31
- Keywords: Gaza Hamas Ismail Haniyeh Palestinians
- Location: GAZA CITY, OVER GAZA CITY, RAFAH AND DEIR AL BALAH, GAZA / TEHERAN, IRAN / SIDON AND BAABDA, LEBANON
- City: GAZA CITY, OVER GAZA CITY, RAFAH AND DEIR AL BALAH, GAZA / TEHERAN, IRAN / SIDON AND BAABDA, LEBANON
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
- Reuters ID: LVA00AEOG818N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Ismail Haniyeh has been re-elected as leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, officials said on Sunday (August 1), cementing his control of the organization which rules the Gaza Strip and has fought multiple violent conflicts with Israel.
Haniyeh, Hamas chief since 2017, has controlled the group's political activities in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and the diaspora largely from outside Gaza, splitting his time between Turkey and Qatar for the past two years.
He directed Hamas in an 11-day conflict with Israel in May that left over 250 in Gaza and 13 in Israel dead. An Egyptian-mediated ceasefire has mostly held since.
Aged 58, Haniyeh was the right-hand man to Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in Gaza, before the wheelchair-bound cleric was assassinated in 2004.
Haniyeh led Hamas' entry into politics in 2006 when they were surprised victors in Palestinian parliamentary elections, defeating a divided Fatah party led by President Mahmoud Abbas.
He became prime minister shortly after the January 2006 victory, but Hamas - which is deemed a terrorist organisation by the United States, Israel, and the European Union - was shunned by the international community.
Following a brief civil war, Hamas seized Gaza from the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, which has limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in 2007. Israel has led a blockade of Gaza since then, citing threats from Hamas.
Haniyeh's victory caps internal elections that also saw the group's Gaza chief, Yehya Al-Sinwar, win a second term in March.
Further votes were delayed by May's upsurge in violence.
(Production: Mustafa Abu Ganeyeh) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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