Khaled meshaal, tipped to be the new leader of hamas, became famous around the world in 1997 after israeli agents injected him with poison in a botched assassination attempt on the street outside his office in the jordanian capital of amman.
The attack on a key senior official of a palestinian militant group, ordered by israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, enraged jordan’s then-king hussein so much that he spoke of hanging would-be assassins and canceling jordan’s peace treaty with israel unless an antidote was given. Over.
Israel did so and also agreed to free hamas leader sheikh ahmed yassin only to assassinate him in gaza seven years later.
For israelis and western nations, the iranian-backed hamas, which has orchestrated suicide bombings in israel and waged frequent wars against it, is a terrorist group bent on destroying israel.
Meshaal, 68, became hamas’ political leader in exile a year before israel tried to eliminate him, allowing him to represent the palestinian islamist group in meetings with foreign governments around the world, unhindered by israel’s severe travel restrictions that have affected other hamas members. Officials.
Senior hamas official khalil al-hayya, who is based in qatar and has led hamas negotiators in indirect gaza truce talks with israel, was also a possibility for leadership because he is a favorite of iran and its allies in the region.
