Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Iran, group says

Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in Tehran, the Palestinian militant group has said.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Haniyeh had earlier attended the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and that he and his Iranian security guard were targeted at their place of residence in the city.

In a statement Hamas said Haniyeh was killed in “a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran”. 

Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV cited senior official Moussa Abu Marzouk as saying his assassination is a “cowardly act that will not go unpunished”.

Analysts on Iranian state television have blamed Israel for the attack. Israel has not commented.

In April, three of Haniyeh’s sons – Hazem, Amir and Mohammad – were killed when an Israeli air strike struck the car they were driving, Hamas said. Haniyeh also lost four of his grandchildren, three girls and a boy, in the attack, Hamas said.

At the time, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed carrying out the attack, describing the sons as operatives in Hamas’s armed wing who were “en route” to carry out military activity in central Gaza.

Haniyeh had denied Israeli assertions that his sons were fighters for the group, and said “the interests of the Palestinian people are placed ahead of everything” when asked if their killing would impact truce talks.

The Hamas chief, who held a degree in Arabic literature, was an influential figure in the early days of the group during the first Intifada (uprising) in the late 80s, before serving spells in Israeli jails.

After a period in exile, Haniyeh returned to Gaza and was nominated as Hamas’s candidate for prime minister in the Palestinian elections of 2006.

He won the vote and briefly led a unity government, before a bloody internal conflict that left Hamas in charge of Gaza – under Israeli blockade – and the Palestinian political group Fatah ruling the West Bank.

Haniyeh remained the leader of Hamas in Gaza until he was replaced by Yahya Sinwar in 2017. He left the enclave in 2019.

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