On July 31, the Palestinian militant group Hamas announced the death of its political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran.
Haniyeh was attending the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, at the time of the attack.
In a statement, Hamas said, “Brother, leader, mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement, died in a Zionist strike on his headquarters in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of the new (Iranian) president.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed the incident, stating that Haniyeh’s residence in Tehran was “hit”, and he was killed along with a bodyguard.
“The residence of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political office of Hamas Islamic Resistance, was hit in Tehran, and as a result of this incident, he and one of his bodyguards were martyred,” said a statement on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s news website.
Haniyeh, a key figure in Hamas, was elected head of the Hamas political bureau in 2017, succeeding Khaled Meshaal.
Haniyeh, known for his pragmatic approach, lived in exile and split his time between Turkey and Qatar. He was well-known for maintaining good relations with various Palestinian factions, including rivals to Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas and return all hostages taken during the October 7 attack, which ignited the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
The attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,400 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, though the figures do not distinguish between civilian and militant deaths.
Earlier this year, on April 10, three of Haniyeh’s sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. The attack also resulted in the deaths of two of his grandchildren and the wounding of a third, according to Hamas media.
Iran, which has supported the Palestinian cause since the 1979 Islamic revolution, hailed Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel but denied any involvement. Haniyeh had travelled to Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Pezeshkian.
Although Israel has yet to confirm the death of the Hamas leader in their alleged air strike.
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