Haniyeh’s death means for Israel-Iran rivalry

Haniyeh’s death means for Israel-Iran rivalry

Subject:  IR

Sec: Places in news

Context:

Israel carried out a massive air strike on Hodeidah, the Red Sea port city in Yemen, that is controlled by the Houthi militia, in response to a drone attack by the Houthis that had hit Tel Aviv.

More on News:

• The common factor of all three groups — Yemen’s Houthis, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and Palestine’s Hamas — is that all of them are backed by Iran, Israel’s chief rival in West Asia.
• The killing of Haniyeh, the most high-profile leader of Hamas outside Gaza, would be particularly seen as a victory by the Israelis.
• Haniyeh was arguably the most powerful leader of Hamas after Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi.
• In 2006, Haniyeh led the group to victory in parliamentary elections in the West Bank and Gaza, ending the monopoly of Fatah, the party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen).

Two challenges:

• The PA’s international backers, mainly in the West, were not ready to accept a government run by Hamas, which was designated as a terrorist group by Israel and some Western countries.
• Abbas and Fatah were unhappy with a Hamas Prime Minister.
• The PA faced a major economic crisis as financial assistance from the West dried up. Tensions broke out between Fatah and Hamas.
• Abbas then dissolved the elected Hamas government, a move welcomed by Israel and the West; but rejected by Hamas and Haniyeh.
• This led to a civil war between the two Palestinian factions, with Fatah expelling Hamas from the West Bank and Hamas capturing Gaza and expelling Fatah from the enclave.