ALBAWABA - The chief political leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh was killed on Wednesday morning in Tehran sparking global condemnation by many countries including Iran, Qatar Turkey, Jordan and Russia.
Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement, said in a new statement regarding the death that the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in the heart of Tehran "is a critical and dangerous event that takes the battle to new dimensions".
Al-Qassam further continued that Israel has made a mistake by expanding the circle of aggression and assassinating resistance leaders in various arenas and violating the sovereignty of other countries.
As the leader of Hamas was killed in an attack on the Iranian capital of Tehran after he attended the ceremony of the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, many debated who would possibly be his successor.
Who is likely to be the successor of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh?
So far there is no confirmed data by Hamas about who is going to replace Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and the announcement is going to be made in the near future.
However, many suggested two names to replace Haniyeh; Ziyad al-Nakhalah and Khaled Mashal.
Who is Ziyad al-Nakhalah?
Palestinian politician Ziyad al-Nakhalah, 71, is the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. He was born in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip in 1953. Al-Nakhalah's father was killed by the Israeli army during the 1956 Khan Yunis attacks when Israeli forces captured Gaza, Rafah, and Al-Arish.
Ziad al-Nakhalah assumed the position of Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine in 2018, succeeding the late Ramadan Abdullah Shallah in the first internal elections held by the movement, Al Jazeera reported.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh (R) looks on while seated next to the Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine Ziad al-Nakhala (L), in Beirut in 2020. [ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images]
He is considered one of the influential figures in the relations of the Islamic Jihad Movement in the Arab and Islamic worlds. In the 1980s, he founded the movement's military wing, which it called the "Islamic Jihad Forces", and in 2000, after the Al-Aqsa Intifada, it was transformed into the "Jerusalem Brigades".
It is worth mentioning that Ziyad al-Nakhalah was with Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and he was in the same building which was targeted and led to the death of Hamas leader.
Who is Khaled Mashal?
Khaled Mashal, a Palestinian political leader, was born on May 28, 1956. He served as the head of Hamas' political bureau between 1996 and 2017, and he was chosen again as its leader after Israel assassinated Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and his successor Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi in 2004.
Former Hamas leader Khaled Mashal. (Photo by AFP)
Mashal resigned as chairman of the politburo in 2017 and the position was taken by Ismail Haniyeh. Khaled Mashal has been married since 1981 and has seven children: three girls and four boys, Al Jazeera revealed in an earlier report.
He studied primary school in his hometown of Silwad, Palestine, then he completed his preparatory and secondary education in Kuwait. He attended Kuwait University in 1974 and obtained a bachelor’s degree in physics in 1979.
