Ismail Haniyeh, the political head of Hamas, was killed in an Israeli strike in Iran on Wednesday while he was there to witness the inauguration of the nation’s new president, the organisation reported.
“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 group stated in a statement.
The death was also declared by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, who claimed that Haniyeh and his bodyguard were slain after Iranian intelligence “hit” his Tehran home.
“Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas Islamic Resistance’s political office, was martyred along with one of his bodyguards after his residence was attacked in Tehran,” a statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s Sepah news website stated.
Haniyeh had flown to Tehran on Tuesday to witness Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian take office.
A request for comment regarding the claims of Haniyeh’s death was not immediately answered by the Israeli army.
The battle in the Gaza Strip began on October 7, and Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas and free all hostages.
1,197 persons, primarily civilians, were killed in the assault by Hamas on southern Israel, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli numbers.
In addition, 251 hostages were taken by militants; 111 of whom are still detained in Gaza, 39 of whom the military claims are dead.
After Hamas won an unexpected victory in that year’s parliamentary election, Haniyeh became the prime minister of Palestine in 2006. Haniyeh was elected leader of the Hamas political committee in 2017 to replace Khaled Meshaal.
Pragmatist Haniyeh, who shares his time between Qatar and Turkey, lives in exile.
During the conflict, he had visited Iran and Turkey on diplomatic missions and met the presidents of both countries.
It was reported that Haniyeh kept cordial contacts with leaders of other Palestinian factions, including those who oppose Hamas.
In 1987, he became a member of Hamas during the inception of the militant organisation amidst the commencement of the initial Palestinian intifada, or rebellion, against Israeli occupation, which persisted until 1993.
According to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave, Israel’s retaliatory military operation in Gaza has killed at least 39,400 Palestinians. The ministry does not offer information on casualties among civilians or militants.
Since the Islamic revolution of 1979, Iran has made supporting the Palestinian cause a central tenet of its foreign policy.
Although it denied any involvement, it has applauded Hamas’s strike on Israel on October 7.