Iran News: Leading Hamas figure Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated early on Wednesday when his Tehran home was attacked, according to a statement from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as reported by Reuters. Ismail Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were slain in an “Israeli” raid on his Tehran home, according to Hamas, a Palestinian organization fighting Israel in Gaza.
In a statement, Hamas said Haniyeh was killed in “a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran”.
Haniyeh, who oversaw Hamas’s political activities while living in exile in Qatar, was present at Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration on Tuesday. He also got to know Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran.
The New York Times noted that Israel’s armed forces were “fully prepared for any scenario”. The spokesperson for the Israeli military, Daniel Hagari, stated, “We prefer to resolve hostilities without a wider war.”
Haniyeh participated in cease-fire negotiations during the Israel-Gaza conflict. In April, Hamas declared that four of Haniyeh’s grandkids and three of his sons had been killed by Israeli attacks.
Yahya Sinwar, the alleged mastermind of the October 7 attack on Israel that started the Gaza War, is in charge of Hamas’ military arm.
The event occurred one day after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declared they had assassinated Hezbollah’s top leader, Fuad Shukr, in Lebanon. Twelve children were murdered by a drone strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which Israel said was the work of Fuad Shukr.
Ismail Haniyeh: Who Was He?
The sixtieth person was born at a camp for refugees close to Gaza City. After joining Hamas in the late 1980s, he advanced quickly in the organization’s ranks and became close to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the organization’s founder and spiritual guide.
Haniyeh served multiple stints in Israeli jails during the 1980s and 1990s. Hamas became the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority government following his victory in the 2006 legislative election. That didn’t last long, though, as President Mahmoud Abbas fired him the next year (2007).
In 2017, he was chosen to lead Hamas’s political wing ten years after it was founded. Haniyeh was classified by the US as a “specially designated global terrorist” in the same year.
(With inputs from agencies)