MEDIA RELEASE: ISMAIL HANIYEH ASSASSINATION: OUR SACRIFICES BRING US CLOSER TO LIBERATION

Mr. Emad Saber

31 July 2024

In a cowardly, criminal and escalatory attack, the Zionist enemy this morning martyred Ismail Haniyeh (Abu Abed), Head of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and one of his protectors, Waseem Abu Shaaban, in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

We do not doubt the bloodthirstiness of the Zionists; we have seen it directed against our people for almost eight decades; we have seen it manifest as a genocide against our people over the past ten months. The Israeli military machine, supported and enabled by its allies in the United States, Germany, Britain and other countries, has murdered more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza and a thousand people in the West Bank in ten months of genocide, in which Gaza has been reduced to rubble and the basic means of human survival destroyed and some communities in the West Bank have been besieged and repeatedly attacked.

Days before his martyrdom, Brother Ismail Haniyeh declared 3 August as a day of support for the Palestinian people in Gaza around the world. We call on all justice-loving people around the world to make 3 August a day of rage against this barbaric occupation and colonial project; let us mark it as a milestone day in solidarity with the Palestinian people and towards our liberation.

In January, the Zionist enemy assassinated the Deputy Head of Hamas’s Political Bureau, Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri (Abu Muhammad) in Beirut. The assassinations of our movement’s leaders and other Palestinian leaders on foreign territory are acts of terrorism and violations of international law.

While the Resistance in Gaza has been working tirelessly for a ceasefire that will bring peace, will allow our people in Gaza some life without being bombed an attacked, and which will see Palestinian prisoners being released and Israeli captives returned, the Zionist government is determined to push for a regional war. This is highlighted by the assassination yesterday of Hizbullah leader Fu’ad Shukr in Beirut, and this morning the assassination of Abu Abed in Tehran. It is clear that the Zionists do not seek peace, and do not care about the safety of their captives.

The Zionist occupation will bear responsibility for the repercussions of its actions. It will not succeed in breaking the will of the Palestinian people to endure and valiantly resist military occupation, apartheid and colonialism.

Abu Abed is not the first head of Hamas to be martyred by the occupation’s assassins. He follows Shaykh Ahmed Yassin, Abdul Aziz Rantisi, and many others. Palestinians have suffered greatly at the hands of the Zionist Occupation; and we have sacrificed tremendously in struggling towards our liberation. The assassination of our leaders will never weaken or defeat us; it will only increase our steadfastness, our strength, and our unwavering determination to achieve our rights and our liberation. For each of our leaders martyred, numerous women and men rise to take their place, to carry our flag, to protect our people, our land, and our holy sites until liberation and return. Our sacrifices bring together all Palestinians and all Palestinian political factions to forge national unity that will strengthen us in resisting the occupation and colonisation until our full liberation.

Each of our sacrifices brings us closer to liberation, from the River to the Sea.

Issued by:

Issued by: Mr. Emad Saber (Hamas International Relations Director for East, Central and Southern Africa)