Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Iran, group says

Hamas’ political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed early Wednesday within the Iranian capital, in line with Iran and the Palestinian militant group, each of which blamed Israel for an assault that has raised fears of spiraling battle within the area.

Haniyeh, 62, was assassinated in Tehran after he attended the inauguration ceremony for Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Hamas mentioned.

Haniyeh “died because of a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran,” it mentioned in a press release on Telegram.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed that Haniyeh and one in every of his bodyguards had been killed in a strike on their residence and mentioned it was investigating, Iranian state media reported. The residence was “struck by an air-launched guided projectile” at round 2 a.m. native time on Wednesday (6:30 p.m. ET Tuesday), state media mentioned.

Pezeshkian, a reformist who had promised to succeed in out to the West, mentioned Iran would “defend its territorial integrity, honor, dignity and satisfaction” and make the attackers “remorse their cowardly motion.”

In a press release, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme chief, mentioned Israel had “set the stage for extreme punishment for itself.”

The Iranian parliament’s nationwide safety committee was anticipated to carry an emergency assembly concerning the strike later Wednesday.

There was no fast remark from Israeli authorities, who had vowed to kill Haniyeh and different Hamas officers after the group’s Oct. 7 terrorist assault on Israel. However Haniyeh’s dying was welcomed by senior authorities official Amihai Eliyahu, who mentioned in a submit on X that it “makes the world just a little higher.”

U.S. Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin, who’s visiting the Philippines, advised reporters he was conscious of the experiences however had no extra info to supply.

“I don’t suppose that warfare is inevitable,” he advised reporters. “I keep that. I feel there’s at all times room and alternative for diplomacy.”

The hunt for Hamas’ management has been ongoing because the group’s Oct. 7 terrorist assault from the neighboring Gaza Strip, which killed 1,200 individuals and resulted within the kidnappings of about 250 others. In April, three of Haniyeh’s sons have been killed in an airstrike within the Palestinian enclave.

Wednesday’s assault on Haniyeh builds on a years-long proxy warfare between Iran and Israel and comes at a fragile time for the area amid issues that the Israel-Hamas warfare will unfold past Gaza. The battle has already drawn in different militant teams backed by Iran such because the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which has been attacking Israel from the north, and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, which have been attacking ships within the Crimson Sea.

Haniyeh had made bulletins concerning the progress of cease-fire agreements previously, and it’s unclear how his dying would possibly have an effect on efforts to pause the combating in Gaza, the place well being officers say nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, and safe the discharge of hostages nonetheless held by Hamas.

The strike got here a day after the Israeli army mentioned it had killed a Hezbollah chief, Fuad Shukr, in a suburb of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, that’s identified to be the house of Hezbollah’s headquarters. The group mentioned Wednesday that Shukr had been within the constructing on the time and that it was nonetheless looking the rubble for victims.

The Israel Protection Forces mentioned Shukr was the commander chargeable for an assault final week within the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that killed 12 individuals, largely youngsters and youngsters.

Haniyeh’s killing was condemned by officers from Hamas and different militant teams.

“Assassinating Ismail Haniyeh is a cowardly act and won’t go unpunished,” Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk mentioned on Al Arabiya TV.

The Israeli army mentioned Wednesday that it was conducting a situational evaluation however had not modified the defensive pointers for civilians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was anticipated to carry a safety evaluation assembly with senior protection officers later within the day.

The assault on Haniyeh was additionally denounced by senior Palestinian official Hussein al-Sheikh, who mentioned in a submit on X, “this pushes us to stay extra steadfast within the face of the occupation, and the need of reaching the unity of the Palestinian forces and factions.”

The overseas ministries of Turkey and Qatar, each international locations the place Haniyeh had frolicked whereas residing in exile, described his killing as a “heinous” assault and mentioned it raised the danger of wider battle within the area. China and Russia additionally condemned the assault.

Haniyeh left Gaza when he was named Hamas’ prime political chief in 2017. His successor as Hamas’ chief in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, stays at massive within the enclave. Sinwar has been described as a “useless man strolling” by Israel’s army and is taken into account to be the mastermind of the Oct. 7 terrorist assault.

Although Israel has not confirmed accountability for Haniyeh’s dying, it’s more likely to additional escalate tensions with Iran, which despatched lots of of rockets and drones towards Israel in April in retaliation for an airstrike on its embassy in Damascus, Syria, that killed two of its prime commanders.

Though the rockets have been intercepted by Israel, the assault was the primary direct one between the 2 international locations. Iran, which doesn’t formally acknowledge Israel’s existence, mentioned on the time that the West ought to be pleased about its “restraint.”