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Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in 'Zionist raid' in Iran, group says

Hamas' political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed overnight in Tehran in a reported drone strike on his residence. Iran says Israel was behind the attack, which came hours after another Israeli strike on the Lebanese capital Beirut killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr. Haniyeh was in Iran to attend the inauguration of the Islamic Republic's new president Masoud Pezeshkian.

July 31, 2024 at 5:18 am

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran, the Palestinian group and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in separate statements today.

The Palestinian resistance movement said Haniyeh was killed in “a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran.” He had been in Iran to attend the swearing in ceremony of the Islamic Republic’s new President, Masoud Pezeshkian, yesterday.

“Early this morning, the residence of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was struck, resulting in his and one of his bodyguards’ martyrdom. The cause is under investigation and will be announced soon,” the Revolutionary Guards said.

Asked about the news, the Israeli occupation army said: ‘We do not comment on these reports.’ While Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu said “Haniyeh’s death makes the world better.”

Taking to X, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote: “Yes, all your enemies will perish Israel.”

While senior Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri said: “This assassination by the Israeli occupation of Brother Haniyeh is a grave escalation that aims to break the will of Hamas… Hamas is a concept and an institution and not persons. Hamas will continue on this path regardless of the sacrifices and we are confident of victory.”

Born on 29 January 1962 in Al-Shati refugee camp in the besieged Gaza Strip, Haniyeh was elected head of Hamas’s political bureau in 2017.

He was appointed as the Palestinian prime minister in 2006 after Hamas won the national elections but was dismissed the following year after factional fighting broke out between the group and rival Fatah, from which President Mahmoud Abbas hails.

Haniyeh served three years in Israel detention during the First Intifada in 1989 and was later exiled in 1992 to a no-man’s land between Lebanon and Israel. He has lived between Turkiye and Qatar after leaving Gaza in 2017 and has been active in negotiations efforts to bring an end to Israel’s ongoing genocidal war in Gaza.

READ: Israeli strike on Beirut targets senior Hezbollah commander, source says