Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh is dead, killed in what the group described as “a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran” on Tuesday morning.
The Hamas Chief was in Tehran to attend the swearing in of Iran’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian.
“Brother, leader, mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement died in a Zionist strike on his headquarters … after he participated in the inauguration of the (new) Iranian president,” the Hamas statement read.
According to the pro-Hezbollah Lebanese al-Mayadeen website, the Hamas Chief was killed in a missile strike launched from outside Iran’s borders. His bodyguard died along with him. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard also confirmed his death.
There is no word from Israel on the strike although Tel Aviv had vowed to eliminate Haniyeh in the wake of last October’s Hamas attack which triggered the Gaza war.
Hamas political bureau chief Musa Abu Marzuk vowed revenge. “The assassination of leader Ismail Haniyeh is a cowardly act and will not go unanswered,” he was quoted as saying.
Haniyeh has headed Hamas since 2017 when he was elected replacing Khaled Meshal. He is considered pragmatic and maintained good relations with all the Palestinian factions.
He joined Hamas in 1983 with the outbreak of the first intifada against Israel.
The assassination is an embarrassment and a challenge to Iran. It only complicates the new president’s commitment to improve relations with the West and ease economic sanctions.
It could also jeopardise talks on a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in which the Hamas Chief was closely involved. He was reportedly conveying proposals and messages between Hamas leaders in Gaza and others.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah hinted that its senior commander Fuad Shukr may have been killed in an Israeli strike on a building in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Tel Aviv says it killed Shukr late on Tuesday, blaming him for an attack over the weekend on the Golang Heights that left many young people and children dead.
With Reuters inputs
