Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Tehran
31 July 2024 09:28
The radical Palestinian group Hamas said that the leader of the movement, Ismail Haniyeh, who had arrived in Tehran to take part in the presidential inauguration ceremony, was killed in the Iranian capital on Wednesday morning.
This was reported by Reuters, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard confirmed Khaniya’s death a few hours after he attended the new president’s swearing-in ceremony and said it was investigating.
In a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), quoted by the Iranian Mehr news agency, it was noted that Ismail Khania and one of his bodyguards were killed in a shelling of a residence in Tehran.
The circumstances of the murder have not yet been disclosed.
No party has claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt.
There was no comment from Israel. The Israeli military said it was assessing the situation, but did not issue any new security guidelines for civilians.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington would make efforts to try to ease tensions, but said the United States would help defend Israel if it was attacked.
The news of the Hamas leader’s assassination came less than 24 hours after Israel announced the elimination of a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon who was involved in a deadly strike on the Golan Heights.
“This killing of Haniyeh’s brother by the Israeli occupiers is a serious escalation aimed at breaking the will of Hamas,” Reuters quoted a senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, as saying.
What is known about Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
Ismail Haniyeh was born on 29 January 1963 in Al-Shata. He was a Palestinian politician, Prime Minister of the Palestinian State from 29 March 2006 to 2 June 2014. He is one of the leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which is recognised by most countries as a terrorist organisation. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian Authority in 2012-2014.
Haniyeh was appointed to the top post in Hamas in 2017. He regularly travelled between Turkey and Qatar’s capital Doha and acted as the group’s negotiator in ceasefire talks and communicated with the leadership of Iran, Hamas’ main ally.
On the evening of 29 July, Israel launched an air strike on the Lebanese capital of Beirut, where, according to the IDF, the Hezbollah commander responsible for the killing of children in the Golan Heights was located.
According to Israel, the strike killed Hezbollah’s “supreme military commander” Fuad Shukr.
