Who are the leaders of Hamas

JERUSALEM, unidentified — The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which Israel has vowed to destroy after it launched a shock attack on Israel Saturday that killed more than 1,200 people, has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007.

Here is what we know about the top leaders of the militant organisation which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has likened to the Islamic State group.

The 60-year-old Haniyeh was elected head of the Hamas political bureau in 2017 to succeed Khaled Meshaal, but was already a known figure in 2006 when he became Palestinian prime minister following an upset victory by Hamas in that year's parliamentary election.

But ties with the Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas were short-lived and in 2007, Hamas took full control of the Gaza Strip after violently ousting the president's loyalists.

Considered a pragmatist, Haniyeh lives in voluntary exile, splitting his time between Turkey and Qatar.

He has long campaigned for a reconciliation between the armed resistance against Israel and a political stance within Hamas, which is blacklisted as a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States.

Haniyeh is said to maintain good relations with the heads of the various Palestinian factions, including rival ones.

In his youth, the Hamas leader, who is known for his calm, was a member of the student branch of the Muslim Brotherhood at the Islamic University of Gaza.

He joined Hamas in 1987 when the militant group was founded as the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, broke out against Israeli occupation, lasting until 1993.

During that time Haniyeh was imprisoned by Israel several times, and then expelled to south Lebanon for six months.

In footage broadcast by Hamas-linked media on Saturday, Haniyeh is seen watching images on television of the unfolding Hamas attack on Israel, before joining other Hamas leaders in a prayer to "thank Allah for this victory".

The elusive Deif, who heads Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzdine al-Qassam Brigades, is Israel's public enemy number one and a man they tried to assassinate at least six times and on the US list of "international terrorists" since 2015.

Considered by Hamas as the group's