Campaigns to undermine Hamas’ Meshal after Haniyeh’s murder

There has been an Arab campaign to distort the image of head of Hamas abroad, Khaled Meshaal, in order to “deviate the movement’s compass and fragment it” ahead of a vote on who the new chief of the movement should be, experts and analysts have warned.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a targeted attack on his residence in the Iranian capital, Tehran, last week while he was attending the inauguration of the Islamic Republic’s new president. The movement is now looking for personalities who can take over his position, with Meshaal being named as a possible candidate.

Political analyst Hazem Ayyad believes that “the campaign led against the movement and its leadership inside and outside is not new and appears every so often in order to unsettle the movement.”

Ayyad told Quds Press that “since the beginning of the war, this electronic army has not stopped attacking the Palestinian resistance, questioning its goals, and trying to discourage and fragment the resistance.”

He added that these campaigns “tried to put the resistance in the position of being accused of being responsible for all the crimes committed by the occupation in Gaza and went as far as acquitting the occupation of the crimes committed in the Strip.”

Ayyad believes that “the war on Gaza almost ended the sectarian division between countries of the region … but some parties see it as a threat to themselves and are interested in fuelling division.”

He explained that these campaigns “previously attacked the martyr Haniyeh and the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.”

Ayyad noted that these campaigns aim to “influence the attempt to make decisions within the Palestinian resistance, to attack its leaders, and the resistance’s ability to restore balance, and to sow discord in the Palestinian street.”

Palestinian activist Adham Abu Selmiya believes that “the attack launched by the electronic army on the martyr Ismail Haniyeh and on Khaled Meshaal is nothing but a desperate attempt to distort the positive image of the resistance and the loyal men who defend the rights and dignity of the nation.”

Abu Selmiya said in a post on his official X account, that “these Zionist voices have been exposed and disgraced,” calling on people not to be distracted by them.

He explained that Meshaal’s recent statements in which he referred to “some Arab countries’ betrayal of Gaza and Palestine, were nothing but an expression of a bitter reality experienced by everyone who carries a heart beating with love for this pure land.”

He added: “All of us see this betrayal and this collusion from countries that we once thought were great.”

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