Hamas leader killed in strike in Tehran, movement blames Israel

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a strike in Tehran on Wednesday, the Palestinian Islamist movement announced, blaming Israel, which it has been waging war against in Gaza for nearly ten months.

Israel vowed to destroy Hamas after the movement launched an unprecedented attack on Israeli soil on October 7 and launched a devastating offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The head of Hamas' political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, in his sixties, was based in Doha. He had participated in the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, a reformer, in Tehran on Tuesday.

Iran, Israel's sworn enemy, is a close ally of Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah, a commander of which was “eliminated” according to the Israeli army in a strike carried out by its air force on Tuesday evening in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

“(Our) brother, the leader, the mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement, died in a Zionist strike on his residence in Tehran after his participation in the inauguration of the new Iranian president” Massoud Pezeshkian, Hamas wrote in a statement.

The Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Iranian Islamic Republic, announced that “the residence of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of Hamas, was hit in Tehran, and (…) he and one of his bodyguards were martyred,” according to a statement on their news site Sepah.

They did not immediately specify the causes of the “incident” and announced the opening of an investigation.

When contacted, the Israeli army did not wish to comment.

– “Cowardly assassination” –

The President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas condemned in a statement the “cowardly assassination” of the political leader of Hamas.

Moussa Abou Marzouk, an official in the political bureau of Hamas, declared in a statement that this “cowardly act will not go unanswered”.

Ismail Haniyeh, who joined Hamas in 1987, came to prominence in 2006 when he became Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority after his movement's surprise victory in the legislative elections.

He was elected head of Hamas' political bureau in 2017, succeeding Khaled Meshaal, and was living in self-imposed exile in Qatar.

In its offensive in Gaza, the Israeli army killed several members of Ismail Haniyeh's family, including three of his sons and four grandchildren.

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In early July, the army said that “increasing signs” suggested that the head of Hamas' armed wing, Mohammed Deif, had been killed in a strike it carried out in the Gaza Strip. But no confirmation of his death has been announced.

On October 7, Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza into southern Israel carried out an attack that resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data. Of the 251 people kidnapped at the time, 111 are still being held in Gaza, 39 of whom are dead, according to the army.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh speaks during a public rally in Saida, southern Lebanon, on June 26, 2022 © AFP – MAHMOUD ZAYYAT

In response, Israel launched a major offensive that has so far killed 39,400 people, according to data from the Health Ministry of the Hamas-led Gaza government, which does not provide information on the number of civilians and fighters killed.

Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, is considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union.

– Hezbollah commander “eliminated” according to Israel –

On Tuesday evening, the Israeli army said its air force had “eliminated the highest military leader of the terrorist organization Hezbollah and the head of its strategic unit, Fouad Chokr, in the Beirut region.”

Building whose top floors were destroyed following an Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, July 30, 2024 © AFP – –

According to army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Fouad Shokr was “the commander responsible” for the rocket attack Saturday in Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-occupied Golan, which killed 12 young people playing in a football stadium.

Three civilians – a woman and two children – were killed in the Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Hezbollah, armed and financed by Iran, has not confirmed the death of Fouad Chokr.

Iran does not recognize the State of Israel and has made support for the Palestinian cause a central part of its foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In his inauguration speech on Tuesday, Massoud Pezeshkian denounced Israel's “crimes” in the Palestinian territory.

“Those who supply the weapons that kill children in Gaza cannot teach others about humanity and tolerance,” he said, referring to the United States, an ally of Israel.

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