Hamas political leader in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, aged 61, has reportedly been killed.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hamas have announced today that Ismail Haniyeh died following an attack at his residence in Tehran, Iran, earlier this morning.
The IRGC released a statement saying, “With condolences to the heroic nation of Palestine and the Islamic nation and the combatants of the Resistance Front and the noble nation of Iran, this morning [Wednesday] the residence of Mr. Dr. Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political office of the Islamic Resistance of Hamas, was hit in Tehran, and following this incident, he and one of his bodyguards were martyred.”
“The cause is under investigation and will be announced soon,” it added.
According to reports from Reuters, Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, when he was attacked at his accommodation. One of his bodyguards also died in the incident.
The inauguration ceremony included not only Hamas representatives but also key figures from pro-Iranian militant groups such as the Houthis and Hezbollah.
The New York Times reported that Haniyeh met with high-ranking Iranian officials, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, just hours before his assassination, which raised concerns about Iran’s security issues.
Hamas has blamed Israel for the attack, but Israel has yet to issue an official response. Analysts from Iranian state media also accuse Israel of being behind the incident.
Meanwhile, Israel has been engaged in a war in the Gaza Strip for ten months in response to Hamas’s surprise attack on October 7. The death toll from the Israel-Hamas conflict has now exceeded 30,000.
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