Dozens of videos of previous speeches and official visits by Ismail Haniya, who was assassinated in the early hours of Wednesday in Tehran, have been circulating on social media in recent hours.
A video from last April captures the moment when the Hamas political leader is informed by telephone – while being shown around the facilities of a new hospital in Qatar – that three of his children (he had 13 children in total) and 4 grandchildren were killed in an Israeli attack on Gaza.
One would expect the news to shock him, to see shock, pain, sadness on his face and movements. Instead, his reaction shows complete apathy. A relative is heard crying to inform him of what has happened.
“May God rest their souls,” he says calmly. The Qatari officials accompanying him ask if he wants to cut the trip short. “No, we are operating normally,” he replies, as if nothing had happened.
This is the moment Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh received news that his sons had been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed it killed Haniyeh’s three sons – claiming they were terrorists. https://t.co/kZbq4EJuSO pic.twitter.com/6snh5yTrrp
-Sky News (@SkyNews) April 11, 2024
It is worth remembering that in his official statement after the death of his children he had said: “I thank God for the honor that my three children and some of my grandchildren gave us as witnesses.”
All developments after Haniya’s murder and their significance on the Nautemporiki live blog.