Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh Killed in Israeli Air Strike in Tehran:
In a significant escalation of Middle Eastern tensions, Hamas has announced that its political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in an Israeli air strike in Tehran. According to Iranian media reports, the attack targeted a building for war veterans where Haniyeh was staying, striking at around 02:00 local time (22:30 GMT). Haniyeh, 62, was widely regarded as the overall leader of Hamas and played a crucial role in negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli government has yet to comment on the incident. However, following the deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people, Israel vowed to dismantle Hamas. Hours before the air strike, the Israeli government’s press office posted a photo of Haniyeh on social media with the caption “eliminated,” though the post was subsequently deleted.
Haniyeh’s presence in Tehran was linked to the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s new President, Masoud Pezeshkian. His assassination threatens to derail ongoing efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza, efforts that Qatar, the US, and Egypt have mediated. Various nations, including Iraq, Turkey, Russia, and Qatar, have condemned the attack. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the assassination was “something we were not aware of or involved in.”
Hamas’s armed wing has declared that Haniyeh’s death will “take the battle to new dimensions” and result in significant repercussions. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has vowed “harsh punishment” against Israel and declared three days of national mourning.
0:48 Video shows Haniyeh in Iran hours before his death
This incident follows closely on the heels of Israel’s claim that it killed Fuad Shukr, a top military commander of Hezbollah, in an air strike. Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group based in Lebanon, has not confirmed Shukr’s death but acknowledged that he was in a building targeted by an Israeli attack in Beirut.
Ismail Haniyeh has been a prominent figure in Hamas since the late 1980s, enduring imprisonment and exile. Appointed as Palestinian prime minister in 2006, he was dismissed in 2007 after a violent clash with Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party. Despite his dismissal, Haniyeh continued to rule in Gaza and was elected head of Hamas’s political bureau in 2017. The US designated Haniyeh a terrorist in 2018. His funeral will be held on Thursday in Tehran, with burial scheduled for Friday in Doha, Qatar.
The aftermath of Haniyeh’s death and its implications for the ongoing conflict in Gaza will be closely monitored by the international community as fears of further violence and instability loom large.