Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' top political boss, assassinated in Iran

Ismail Haniyeh, the chief of the Hamas Political Bureau, has been killed in an attack in Tehran. The development, reported by Iranian state-owned media, has been confirmed by Hamas, too.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on Wednesday (July 31) that Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed when their residence was hit in Tehran. “Early this morning, the residence of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was struck, resulting in his and one of his body guards’ martyrdom. The cause is under investigation and will be announced soon,” the IRGC said.

Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Iranian president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian.

Hamas, too, has said that its leader was killed in Iran. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, suspicion immediately fell on Israel, which had vowed to kill Haniyeh and other leaders of Hamas over the group’s October 7 attack on Israel.

Hamas said that Haniyeh was killed in “a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran” and mourned his death. Analysts on Iranian state television also immediately blamed Israel for the attack.

Israel did not immediately comment. However, on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) Israel’s official handle, run by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reshared a post by US politician Ritchie Torres. Torres had said “The leader of Hamas has been brought to justice. Permanently. A special place in hell is reserved for him.”

It is important to note that Israel often does not claim responsibility when it comes to assassinations carried out by their Mossad intelligence agency.

Qatar-based Haniyeh had been the tough-talking face of the Hamas’s international diplomacy amid the war raging in Gaza. Three of Haniyeh’s sons– Hazem, Amir and Mohammad– were killed in an Israeli airstrike on April 10. He had also lost four of his grandchildren, three girls and a boy, in the attack, Hamas had said at the time.

With inputs from agencies