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‘We Mourn Ismail’: Media Outlets, Anti-Israel Activists Praise Deceased Hamas Leader Haniyeh as ‘Moderate,’ Peacemaker
Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal hugs senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh before leaving Gaza Strip, Dec. 10, 2012. Photo: REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
Global news outlets and anti-Israel activists reacted curiously to the news of the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday, mourning for the terrorist mastermind and labeling him as “moderate.”
In the early morning hours of Wednesday, an explosion killed Haniyeh, the Palestinian terrorist group’s political chief, while he was staying in Tehran, the Iranian capital city, for the inauguration of the country’s new president.
No country or group has claimed responsibility for the strike that killed Haniyeh, but Hamas and Iran blamed Israel, which has remained quiet about the attack. Some observers have argued the strike could result in regional escalation and make it harder to secure a deal to release the more than 100 hostages still held by Hamas and reach a ceasefire in Gaza. Others argued it established a certain level of deterrence and will incentivize Hamas to come to a deal soon.
Regardless, many journalists and anti-Israel activists were quick to lionize Haniyeh, who was placed on the US State Department’s Specially Designated Global Terrorists list in 2018, and castigate Israel.
The American writer and activist Shaun King described the assassination as “murder” at the hands of the United States and Israel. “I must admit that I am furious, because they [Israel] murder people with impunity. It’s absurd. But you can never destroy a people who do not believe that death is the end.”
King also said that he admired Haniyeh for negotiating with Israel. “He was working hard, day and night, on the ceasefire even though these genocidal monsters had murdered his own kids and grandchildren. I never understood how he had such strength to push forward. But he knew and said that he was no different than the average Palestinian who has lost so much.”
As the Hamas terror group’s political chief, Haniyeh has become known for his role in recent Gaza ceasefire negotiations
“In the face of this, Brother Ismail remained steadfast to Islam and to a free Palestine,” King said.
Palestine Action US, one of the biggest anti-Israel groups in the country instrumental in organizing pro-Hamas protests, reposted a person on its Instagram story expressing that they are “genuinely in tears” at the news of the death of Haniyeh.
More mainstream groups also had striking reactions to the news.
Yolande Knell, BBC’s Middle East Correspondent, described Haniyeh as “moderate and pragmatic.” Meanwhile, Sky News’s Alex Crawford told viewers on air that the terror leader is “very moderate.”
The Wall Street Journal‘s news story on the strike — written by Rory Jones, Omar Abdel-Baqui, and Summer Said — labeled Haniyeh as “Hamas’ leading advocate for a Gaza cease-fire,” seemingly suggesting that the long-time terrorist, who reportedly has close links with Hamas’ military wing and has been involved in attacks against Israeli citizens, is an agent for peace.
The top quote in the Journal‘s story is from a Hamas official, who said, “They [Israel] didn’t just kill Ismail Haniyeh … They are killing peace in the Middle East.”
Zahra Billoo, the executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), wrote on X/Twitter that “tonight, we mourn Ismail himself but know his martyrdom is not in vain. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
She also quoted a line from the Quran in reference to Haniyeh, which read, “Never say that those martyred in the cause of Allah are dead — in fact, they are alive! But you do not perceive it.”
Haniyeh was 62. He became a part of Hamas during the First Intifada against Israel and eventually rose to become the political leader of the group, which is an internationally designated terrorist organization with the stated goal of destroying the Jewish state through armed struggle.
The post ‘We Mourn Ismail’: Media Outlets, Anti-Israel Activists Praise Deceased Hamas Leader Haniyeh as ‘Moderate,’ Peacemaker first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Agrees to Talks on Lebanon Border, to Free Five Lebanese, PM Office Says
An Israeli flag flies in Lebanon, near the Israel-Lebanon border, following the ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, as seen from Metula, northern Israel, Dec. 3, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov
Israel said on Tuesday it had agreed to hold talks to demarcate its border with Lebanon, adding it would release five Lebanese detainees held by the Israeli military in what it called a “gesture to the Lebanese president.”
A statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel had agreed with Lebanon, the US, and France to establish working groups to discuss the demarcation line between the two countries.
Though Israel has largely withdrawn from southern Lebanon under a ceasefire deal agreed in November, its troops continue to hold five hilltop positions in the area with airstrikes in southern Lebanon citing what it described as Hezbollah activity.
The ceasefire deal ended more than a year of conflict between Israel‘s military and the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah that was playing out in parallel with the Gaza war.
The fighting peaked in a major Israeli air and ground campaign in southern Lebanon that left Hezbollah badly weakened, with most of its military command killed in Israeli strikes.
The post Israel Agrees to Talks on Lebanon Border, to Free Five Lebanese, PM Office Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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UN Security Council to Meet Over Iran’s Growing Stockpile of Near-Bomb-Grade Uranium
Members of the Security Council cast a vote during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the 3rd anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at UN headquarters in New York, US, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/David Dee Delgado
The United Nations Security Council will meet behind closed doors on Wednesday over Iran’s expansion of its stock of uranium close to weapons grade, diplomats said on Monday.
The meeting was requested by six of the council’s 15 members – France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, Britain, and the US.
They also want the council to discuss Iran’s obligation to provide the UN nuclear watchdog – the International Atomic Energy Agency – with “the information necessary to clarify outstanding issues related to undeclared nuclear material detected at multiple locations in Iran,” diplomats said.
Iran’s mission to the UN in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the planned meeting.
Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, it is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60 percent purity, close to the roughly 90 percent weapons-grade level, the IAEA has warned.
Western states say there is no need to enrich uranium to such a high level under any civilian program and that no other country has done so without producing nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.
Iran reached a deal in 2015 with Britain, Germany, France, the US, Russia, and China – known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – that lifted sanctions on Tehran in return for restrictions on its nuclear program.
Washington quit the agreement in 2018 during Donald Trump’s first term as US president, and Iran began moving away from its nuclear-related commitments.
Britain, France, and Germany have told the UN Security Council that they are ready – if needed – to trigger a so-called snap back of all international sanctions on Iran to prevent the country from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
They will lose the ability to take such action on Oct. 18 this year when the 2015 UN resolution on the deal expires. US President Donald Trump has directed his UN envoy to work with allies to snap back international sanctions and restrictions on Iran.
The post UN Security Council to Meet Over Iran’s Growing Stockpile of Near-Bomb-Grade Uranium first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Entire Families Killed in Syria’s Military Crackdown, UN Says
A man inspects a damaged car in Latakia, after hundreds were reportedly killed in some of the deadliest violence in 13 years of civil war, pitting loyalists of deposed President Bashar al-Assad against the country’s new Islamist rulers, Syria, March 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Haidar Mustafa
Entire families including women and children were killed in Syria’s coastal region as part of a series of sectarian killings by the army against an insurgency by Bashar al-Assad loyalists, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday.
Pressure has been growing on Syria’s Islamist-led government to investigate after reports by a war monitor of the killing of hundreds of civilians in villages where the majority of the population were members of Assad’s minority Alawite sect.
“In a number of extremely disturbing instances, entire families – including women, children, and individuals hors de combat – were killed, with predominantly Alawite cities and villages targeted in particular,” UN human rights office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said, using a French term for those incapable of fighting.
So far, the UN human rights office has documented the killing of 111 civilians and expects the real toll to be significantly higher, Al-Kheetan told a Geneva press briefing. Of those, 90 were men; 18 were women; and three were children, he added.
“Many of the cases documented were of summary executions. They appear to have been carried out on a sectarian basis,” Al-Kheetan told reporters. In some cases, men were shot dead in front of their families, he said, citing testimonies from survivors.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk welcomed an announcement by Syria’s Islamist-led government to create an accountability committee and called for those investigations to be prompt, thorough, independent, and impartial, the spokesperson added.
The post Entire Families Killed in Syria’s Military Crackdown, UN Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.