Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an explosion in Tehran on Wednesday, the militant group and Iran’s state TV reported.
Haniyeh was in the Iranian capital to attend the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and met with the country’s supreme leader on Tuesday.
According to Hamas, their political leader and one of his bodyguards were killed in “a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran.”
Although Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, the government has been targeting Hamas leaders since the militant group attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing over 1,000 people and taking 251 hostages.
In April, Haniyeh announced that his three sons and three grandchildren were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. The ongoing conflict in Gaza has displaced more than 80 percent of the population and killed over 39,000 Palestinians, according to the local Hamas-run health ministry.
Hamas has vowed to retaliate for Haniyeh’s death, labeling it a “cowardly act” that will not go unpunished.
Israel’s Heritage Minister, Amichay Eliyahu, commented on Haniyeh’s death on X, stating it “makes the world a better place” and supports peace efforts.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killing, while various Palestinian factions called for mass demonstrations.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced that the attack was under investigation, and it remains unclear how Iran, which had offered protection to Haniyeh, will respond amid rising tensions in the Middle East.
Haniyeh’s death occurred shortly after Israel claimed to have “eliminated” a top leader of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in an airstrike in Beirut, which was described as retaliation for a rocket attack on the occupied Golan Heights that killed a dozen children on Saturday.
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