Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas Political Chief, Assassinated in Iran

Hamas’s political chief Ismail Haniyeh has been assassinated in Iran’s capital, Tehran, according to a statement from the group that governs Gaza, which blamed Israel for his death.

Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed after the building where they were staying was struck, the statement said, adding that Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday.

“The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas mourns to our great Palestinian people, to the Arab and Islamic nation, and to all the free people of the world: Brother, leader, martyr, Mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement, who was killed in a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran,” Hamas said.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also announced Haniyeh’s death.

“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 IRGC said in a statement.

It gave no details on how Haniyeh was killed and the IRGC said the attack was under investigation.

Israel remained silent on Haniyeh’s death, with media there reporting that the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered cabinet ministers not to comment. Far-right Heritage Minister Amihai Elihayu, however, celebrated the Hamas leader’s death on social media platform X.

The killing “makes the world a little better,” he wrote in Hebrew.

Israel launched a war in Gaza, promising to eliminate Hamas and kill its leaders after the group attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 200 others were taken captive.

At least 39,400 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war, with 90,996 injured.

Haniyeh left the Gaza Strip in 2019 and lived in Qatar. The top Hamas leader in Gaza is Yahya Sinwar.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, who is in Deir el-Balah in Gaza, said the killing was “significant” for the people of Gaza because he was the leader of negotiations that they hoped would lead to a ceasefire.

“Palestinians across Gaza and the West Bank also view Ismail Haniyeh as a moderate leader who is much more pragmatic compared to other leaders who head the military side of the movement,” Mahmoud said.

“He is very popular here. He grew up in a refugee camp. He represents the vast majority of the people who are the descendants of the refugee families who were displaced from the Palestinian territories in 1948.”

Many worry Haniyeh’s killing could now lead to a further escalation of the conflict, he added.

Tensions were already high after Israel said it targeted a senior Hezbollah commander in a “precision strike” on Beirut on Tuesday.

“This is a huge escalation – what happened yesterday in Lebanon, what’s happening today in Tehran. It’s an escalation by [Israel] and that’s going to have significant ramifications,” Sami al-Arian, the director of the Center for Islam and Global Affairs at Istanbul Zaim University, told Al Jazeera.

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