Hamas Reports Assassination of Its Leader in Tehran by Israel
Ismail Haniyeh attended the inauguration ceremony of Iran's new president.
TroibNews 
BEIRUT — Ismail Haniyeh, a leading figure of Hamas, was assassinated in Tehran, according to an announcement by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard early Wednesday. Hamas attributed the attack to Israel.
In response to Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, which resulted in 1,200 deaths and approximately 250 kidnappings, Israel had pledged to eliminate Haniyeh and other senior Hamas leaders.
An Israeli military spokesperson did not immediately address requests for comments. Israel often refrains from commenting on actions carried out by their Mossad intelligence agency.
Hamas reported that Haniyeh was killed “in a Zionist airstrike on his residence in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of Iran’s new president.”
“Hamas declares to the great Palestinian people and the people of the Arab and Islamic nations and all the free people of the world, brother leader Ismail Haniyeh a martyr,” read a brief statement.
Another statement from the group cited Haniyeh as saying the Palestinian cause has “costs” and that “we are ready for these costs: martyrdom for the sake of Palestine, and for the sake of God Almighty, and for the sake of the dignity of this nation.”
Hamas officials did not immediately offer further comments.
Haniyeh, who left Gaza in 2019, had been living in exile in Qatar. Yehya Sinwar is the top Hamas leader in Gaza and was behind the Oct. 7 attack.
In April, an Israeli airstrike in Gaza resulted in the deaths of three of Haniyeh’s sons and four of his grandchildren.
In an interview with Al Jazeera after the incident, Haniyeh insisted that the casualties would not force Hamas to change its stance during cease-fire negotiations with Israel.
Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday, joined by other Hamas representatives and officials from Hezbollah and allied groups. Details on the exact circumstances of Haniyeh’s death were not provided by Iran, with the Revolutionary Guard stating that the matter was under investigation.
Iranian state television analysts promptly blamed Israel for the assassination.
Prior to Haniyeh’s death, Israel had conducted a rare strike on Beirut that reportedly killed Fouad Shukur, a high-ranking Hezbollah military commander. Hezbollah has yet to confirm Shukur’s death in the attack, which also resulted in the deaths of at least one woman and two children, with dozens more injured.
The airstrike occurred amid increasing tensions with the Lebanese militant group. The U.S. also holds Shukur responsible for orchestrating the fatal 1983 Marine bombing in Beirut.
There has been no immediate reaction from the White House. The assassination of Haniyeh coincides with ongoing efforts by the Biden administration to mediate a temporary ceasefire and a hostage-release agreement between Hamas and Israel.
CIA Director Bill Burns was in Rome on Sunday to engage in talks with senior Israeli, Qatari, and Egyptian officials. Concurrently, Brett McGurk, the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, is in the region for discussions with U.S. allies.
Israel is believed to have been conducting a yearslong assassination campaign targeting Iranian nuclear scientists and individuals associated with its atomic program. In 2020, a prominent Iranian military nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun while traveling in a car outside Tehran.
Since the beginning of Israel’s conflict with Hamas following the October attack, the Gaza Health Ministry reports that more than 39,360 Palestinians have been killed and over 90,900 injured, though the figures do not distinguish between civilians and fighters.
Mathilde Moreau contributed to this report for TROIB News
In response to Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, which resulted in 1,200 deaths and approximately 250 kidnappings, Israel had pledged to eliminate Haniyeh and other senior Hamas leaders.
An Israeli military spokesperson did not immediately address requests for comments. Israel often refrains from commenting on actions carried out by their Mossad intelligence agency.
Hamas reported that Haniyeh was killed “in a Zionist airstrike on his residence in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of Iran’s new president.”
“Hamas declares to the great Palestinian people and the people of the Arab and Islamic nations and all the free people of the world, brother leader Ismail Haniyeh a martyr,” read a brief statement.
Another statement from the group cited Haniyeh as saying the Palestinian cause has “costs” and that “we are ready for these costs: martyrdom for the sake of Palestine, and for the sake of God Almighty, and for the sake of the dignity of this nation.”
Hamas officials did not immediately offer further comments.
Haniyeh, who left Gaza in 2019, had been living in exile in Qatar. Yehya Sinwar is the top Hamas leader in Gaza and was behind the Oct. 7 attack.
In April, an Israeli airstrike in Gaza resulted in the deaths of three of Haniyeh’s sons and four of his grandchildren.
In an interview with Al Jazeera after the incident, Haniyeh insisted that the casualties would not force Hamas to change its stance during cease-fire negotiations with Israel.
Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday, joined by other Hamas representatives and officials from Hezbollah and allied groups. Details on the exact circumstances of Haniyeh’s death were not provided by Iran, with the Revolutionary Guard stating that the matter was under investigation.
Iranian state television analysts promptly blamed Israel for the assassination.
Prior to Haniyeh’s death, Israel had conducted a rare strike on Beirut that reportedly killed Fouad Shukur, a high-ranking Hezbollah military commander. Hezbollah has yet to confirm Shukur’s death in the attack, which also resulted in the deaths of at least one woman and two children, with dozens more injured.
The airstrike occurred amid increasing tensions with the Lebanese militant group. The U.S. also holds Shukur responsible for orchestrating the fatal 1983 Marine bombing in Beirut.
There has been no immediate reaction from the White House. The assassination of Haniyeh coincides with ongoing efforts by the Biden administration to mediate a temporary ceasefire and a hostage-release agreement between Hamas and Israel.
CIA Director Bill Burns was in Rome on Sunday to engage in talks with senior Israeli, Qatari, and Egyptian officials. Concurrently, Brett McGurk, the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, is in the region for discussions with U.S. allies.
Israel is believed to have been conducting a yearslong assassination campaign targeting Iranian nuclear scientists and individuals associated with its atomic program. In 2020, a prominent Iranian military nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun while traveling in a car outside Tehran.
Since the beginning of Israel’s conflict with Hamas following the October attack, the Gaza Health Ministry reports that more than 39,360 Palestinians have been killed and over 90,900 injured, though the figures do not distinguish between civilians and fighters.
Mathilde Moreau contributed to this report for TROIB News
