Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh has been assassinated in Iran’s capital, Tehran, the Palestinian resistance group said on Wednesday. 

The group issued a statement saying that their leader was killed in “a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran”, according to Reuters. 

Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed after the building they were staying in was struck, said the reports, quoting a statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“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 Revolutionary Guards said.

The Hamas top leader was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday. 

Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk said the assassination of Haniyeh is a “cowardly act that will not go unpunished”.

Meanwhile, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that Haniyeh’s assassination is a grave escalation that will not achieve its goals.

Who was Ismail Haniyeh?

Haniyeh was the tough-talking face of the Palestinian group’s international diplomacy as war raged back in Gaza, where three of his sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

But despite the rhetoric, he was seen by many diplomats as a moderate compared to the more hardline members of the group inside Gaza.

Appointed to the Hamas top job in 2017, Haniyeh moved between Turkey and Qatar’s capital Doha, escaping the travel curbs of the blockaded Gaza Strip and enabling him to act as a negotiator in ceasefire talks or to talk to Hamas’ ally Iran.

“All the agreements of normalisation that you (Arab states) signed with (Israel) will not end this conflict,” Haniyeh declared on Qatar-based Al Jazeera television shortly after Hamas fighters launched the October 7 raid.

More to follow…