Erdogan meets sons of assassinated Hamas leader Haniyeh

On August 10, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Abdusselam and Hammam Haniyeh, the sons of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political bureau chief who was assassinated last month in Tehran.

The meeting took place in Istanbul, where Erdogan expressed his condolences to Haniyeh's sons over their father's tragic death, Caliber.Az reports, citing Turkish media.

The gathering was attended by key Turkish officials, including Ibrahim Kalin, the head of the Turkish Intelligence Organization, and Sefer Turan, Chief Advisor to the President. The discussion centered on the assassination of Haniyeh, a significant figure within Hamas, which has added to the already tense geopolitical climate in the region.

Haniyeh, who was in Tehran for the Iranian president’s swearing-in ceremony, was killed on July 31 by an aerial projectile at his residence. Following the assassination, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei vowed a "harsh response," declaring it Iran’s duty to avenge Haniyeh’s blood.

The attack on Haniyeh has heightened tensions between Israel and Hamas, with implications for regional security and diplomatic relations.

Haniyeh became the head of Hamas’ political bureau in 2017, and had been living in exile in Qatar after leaving Gaza in 2019.

The conflict in Gaza erupted following Hamas' attack on southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in 1,200 Israeli casualties and 250 hostages taken to Gaza, according to Israeli figures. The Gaza Health Ministry reports that at least 39,699 Palestinians have been killed in the ongoing Israeli military campaign, though the figures do not differentiate between fighters and civilians.