Hamas has announced that its political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in a recent Israeli airstrike in Iran, where he was present for the inauguration of the new president of the country.
Haniyeh’s death followed an Israeli operation on Tuesday that targeted a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut, resulting in the death of a high-ranking commander from the Iran-supported group, which Israel attributed to a recent rocket attack on the Golan Heights, an area annexed by Israel.
“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,” the Palestinian militant group confirmed in a statement released on Wednesday morning.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also confirmed the development 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 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s Sepah news website.
The Guards mentioned that the cause of the incident is currently under investigation and not yet determined.
Haniyeh visited Tehran to participate in the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday.
The Israeli army chose not to respond to reports from international media outlets.
