Following the assassination of the head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, at dawn on Wednesday in the Iranian capital, Tehran, an important question arises about who will succeed him as head of the movement’s political bureau.

This is the first time that the occupation army has assassinated the movement's most prominent figure at the political level while he was in office, although it had previously assassinated the movement's leader and founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

The assassinations continued, targeting the most prominent leaders in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, most notably Dr. Abdul Aziz al-Rantisi. A few months ago, the occupation assassinated Saleh al-Arouri, the movement’s deputy leader, in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

Sources in the movement, speaking to Al Jazeera Net, confirmed that Hamas is “a national liberation movement that has presented dozens of its first-line leaders as martyrs. It is a movement led by institutions within its organizational structure, and the work of these institutions does not stop at assassinating leaders, whether in the political wing or in its military wing.”

The sources added that the movement's Central Shura Council - the highest legislative body in the movement - is still carrying out its work, and the Executive Committee - the highest political body in the movement - is carrying out its work in light of these exceptional circumstances.

She stressed that "the assassination policy implemented by the Israeli occupation will not weaken the movement, nor will it affect the work of its institutions. Throughout the decades of confrontation with the occupation, the movement has overcome difficult circumstances and emerged from them stronger and more resilient."

She also stressed that the occupation seeks, through these operations, to mix things up within the movement, but all these attempts will fail.

The General Shura Council of Hamas re-elected Ismail Haniyeh as head of the political bureau in August 2021, and Saleh al-Arouri held the position of vice president in addition to his position as head of the West Bank region before his assassination.

Yahya Sinwar holds the presidency of the movement in the Gaza Strip, and in the presidency of the foreign region, Khaled Meshaal was elected to this position in April 2021.

The Executive Committee of the movement consists of 18 members, 6 members from each region, in addition to the movement’s president who heads the committee.
Among the most prominent candidates to succeed Haniyeh are four members of the bureau: Khaled Meshaal, Asma Hamdan, Dr. Khalil Al-Hayya, and Dr. Musa Abu Marzouq.

In turn, the website of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei published a video clip of the speech of the head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, during his meeting with the Iranian Supreme Leader yesterday, before his assassination.

Haniyeh said during the meeting, "I lost 60 martyrs from my extended family, my grandchildren, my nephews, my sisters' sons, and my cousins, like the rest of the families in Gaza," adding that the smallest house in Gaza has this number, and there are families that have lost between 170 and 190 martyrs.

He also said, "What is happening in the Gaza Strip is a war of extermination, and an attempt to get rid of the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza."

It is noteworthy that on April 10, Hamas announced the martyrdom of three of Haniyeh's sons, Hazem, Amir and Mohammed, in an Israeli airstrike that targeted the car they were traveling in. Hamas said that Haniyeh also lost four of his grandchildren, three girls and a boy, in the raid.

Hamas announced this morning, Wednesday, in a statement that Haniyeh was martyred "as a result of a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran."

Hamas held Israel and "those who support it" responsible for the assassination of the head of its political bureau in Tehran, considering the crime "a terrorist act, a violation of Iranian sovereignty, and a dangerous escalation."