‘Haniyeh presented a pragmatic face to the mediators but internally inside Hamas led a hard line.’
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was reportedly killed because he was a major obstacle to securing a hostage release deal.
Haniyeh died on Wednesday after an explosive device that had been reportedly planted months ago was controlled and remotely detonated in an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp boarding house where Haniyeh was staying in Tehran.
Although many are worried that Haniyeh’s assassination may be an obstacle to a hostage release deal, according to one source, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the killing of Haniyeh because he believed it would remove a significant impediment to a hostage release agreement.