Posters of Slain Hamas' Leader Ismail Haniyeh Appears In Kerala

Kochi: A poster of slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has appeared in Kerala's Kozhikode, months after his death in Tehran. The poster, attributed to the Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO), a student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, honors Haniyeh. The Malayalam text on the poster translates to "Will live forever with Allah."

Social media users have condemned the incident, expressing concern over the glorification of a leader associated with a group designated as a terrorist organisation by several countries.

Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader, was killed at his Tehran residence. Hamas, currently engaged in ongoing conflict with Israel in Gaza, claimed that Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli attack. At the time of his death, Haniyeh was in Tehran for the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

As the exiled political chief of Hamas, Haniyeh had spent recent years in Qatar, where he played a significant role in ceasefire negotiations during the Israel-Gaza conflict. Born in the al-Shati refugee camp in the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip in 1963, Haniyeh became involved with Hamas during his education in Gaza and earned a bachelor's degree in Arabic literature in 1987.

During the First Intifada, Haniyeh was imprisoned by Israel and exiled in 1992. Upon his return to Gaza, he emerged as a key figure in Hamas, eventually being appointed to lead one of the group's offices in 1997. His close association with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a co-founder of Hamas, significantly contributed to his rise within the organization.

After Yassin's assassination by the Israeli military in 2003, Haniyeh was named head of Hamas, leading the group to victory in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections. He later became the Prime Minister of the State of Palestine but was dismissed in June 2007 by Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas due to a conflict with Fatah.

During the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, Haniyeh suffered a personal tragedy on April 10, when an Israeli airstrike killed his three sons, Hazem, Amir, and Mohammad, as well as four of his grandchildren, according to Hamas. Despite the losses, Haniyeh denied Israeli claims that his sons were fighters for the group and stated, "The interests of the Palestinian people are placed ahead of everything," when asked if the deaths of his family members would affect truce negotiations.