Hamas says leader killed in Israel strike in Iran

TEHRAN — Hamas said Wednesday its political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli strike in Iran, where he was attending the inauguration of the country's new president, and vowed the act "will not go unanswered". 

Haniyeh's killing came after Israel on Tuesday struck a Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut, killing a senior commander of the Iran-backed group it said was responsible for a weekend rocket attack on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

"Brother leader, mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement, died in a Zionist strike on his residence in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of the new (Iranian) president," the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.

Hamas political bureau member Musa Abu Marzuk vowed: "The assassination of leader Ismail Haniyeh is a cowardly act and will not go unanswered."

Iran's Revolutionary Guards also announced the death, saying 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 Guards' Sepah news website.

Haniyeh had travelled to Tehran to attend Tuesday's swearing-in of President Masoud Pezeshkian.

The Israeli army declined to comment.

Abbas condemns killing 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Haniyeh's killing as a "cowardly act" and urged Palestinians to remain united against Israel.

Israeli prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas and bring back all hostages taken during the October 7 attacks, which sparked the war in Gaza.

Israel's retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,400 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, which does not provide details on civilian and militant deaths.

Regional tensions have soared since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October, drawing in Iran-backed militant groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.

Haniyeh was elected head of the Hamas political bureau in 2017 to succeed Khaled Meshaal. 

He was already a well-known figure having become Palestinian prime minister in 2006 following an upset victory by Hamas in that year's parliamentary election.

Considered a pragmatist, Haniyeh lived in exile and split his time between Turkey and Qatar.

He had travelled on diplomatic missions to Iran and Turkey during the war, meeting both the Turkish and Iranian presidents.

Haniyeh was said to maintain good relations with the heads of the various Palestinian factions, including rivals to Hamas.

He joined Hamas in 1987 when the militant group was founded amid the outbreak of the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israeli occupation, which lasted until 1993.

Hamas is part of the "axis of resistance" of Iran-backed armed groups arrayed against arch-foe Israel around the Middle East.

Iran has made support for the Palestinian cause a centrepiece of its foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

It has hailed Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel but denied any involvement.