Updated: Top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Israeli attack in Tehran
Ismail Haniyeh, a top Hamas leader, was killed in an Israeli attack in Tehran, the group announced. Haniyeh had been in the Iranian capital attending the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
According to Iranian media, the attack occurred around 02:00 (00:00 GMT) at a building for war veterans where Haniyeh was staying. Some reports suggest he was killed in an airstrike.
Haniyeh, 62, was widely considered the overall leader of Hamas. Israel has not commented on the incident, but has vowed to destroy Hamas following the October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in 1,200 deaths.
In response, Israel launched a massive military operation in the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas, resulting in at least 39,400 casualties, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Hamas stated that Haniyeh was in Tehran for President Pezeshkian’s inauguration ceremony. Musa Abu Marzuk, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, condemned the attack as a “cowardly act” that “will not go unanswered.” Another senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, affirmed that the group would “continue on its path.”
Iran’s foreign ministry stated that Haniyeh’s “martyrdom” would “strengthen the deep and unbreakable bond between Tehran, Palestine, and the resistance,” according to state media. Several foreign ministries, including those of Turkey, Russia, and Qatar, have condemned the attack.
Haniyeh’s death follows Israel’s claim that it killed Fuad Shukr, a top military commander of Hezbollah, in an airstrike. Hezbollah has not confirmed Shukr’s death but reported that he was in a building targeted by an Israeli attack in Beirut on Tuesday.
Haniyeh had been a prominent Hamas member since the late 1980s, during which he was imprisoned by Israel and later exiled. Appointed Palestinian prime minister in 2006, he continued to rule in Gaza after being dismissed in 2007.
He was elected head of Hamas’s political bureau in 2017 and designated a terrorist by the US Department of State in 2018. Haniyeh had lived in Qatar for the past several years.
Source: Reuters
