Haniyeh will be ‘hard to replace’: Analysis

Hamas will have a tough time replacing Haniyeh due to his strong ties with Arab allies and central role in ceasefire negotiations, said Beirut-based Middle East analyst Sami Nader.

As Hamas’s political chief, Haniyeh gave the group a more “moderate profile” and succeeded in improving ties with many Arab governments with whom relations had been tense, Nader told Al Jazeera. During the Gaza war, he also played a leading role in ceasefire negotiations.

Picking a successor will be further complicated by the fact that Haniyeh’s deputy, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed in January this year in a Beirut air strike, noted Nader.