By Stephen Farrell and Samia Nakhoul(Reuters) - Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader based in Qatar, has been the tough-talking face of the Palestinian group's international diplomacy as war has raged back in Gaza where his family home was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in November.
Israel regards the entire Hamas leadership as terrorists, accusing Haniyeh, Meshaal and others of continuing to "pull the strings of the Hamas terror organisation."
The plan, drawn up by the Hamas military council in Gaza, was such a closely guarded secret that some Hamas officials seemed shocked by its timing and scale.
During the decade in which Haniyeh was Hamas' top leader in Gaza, Israel accused his leadership team of helping to divert humanitarian aid to the group's military wing.
Three senior officials told Reuters that Khamenei told the Hamas leader in that meeting, that Iran would not enter the war having not been told about it in advance.
Persons:
Stephen Farrell, Samia Nakhoul, Ismail Haniyeh, Haniyeh, Israel, Khaled Meshaal, Yahya Sinwar, Adeeb Ziadeh, Meshaal, Iran's, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khamenei, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, Yassin, Edmund Blair
Organizations:
Palestinian, Gaza, Al, Hamas, Qatari, Qatar University, Reuters, Islamic University
Locations:
Qatar, Gaza, Turkey, Doha, Iran, Israel, Al Jazeera, Meshaal, Muslim Iran, Egypt, Tehran, Iranian, Al, Gaza City, Al Jura, Ashkelon, Dubai