Hamas says its top leader was killed in Iran

TEL AVIV, Israel — The Palestinian militant group Hamas said its top political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a targeted raid in Iran on Wednesday. Haniyeh was in Tehran for the inauguration ceremony of new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Hamas accused Israel of killing Haniyeh while Israeli officials said they had "no comment" when asked about the Tehran attack.

Pezeshkian called the attack a "cowardly action" and said that Iran will defend its territorial integrity.

Palestinians in Gaza said they woke up to the announcement and were devastated.

“This was the most difficult news I have ever received in my 70 years alive,” said Um Yusuf, who was sitting at the entrance of her shelter in the southern Gaza city of Zuweida when she heard the news of Haniyeh’s death on a radio channel on her mobile phone.

“[Haniyeh] was a dove of peace…he was a mature man, loved everyone…and worked for the benefit of all of the Palestinian people.”

Ismail al-Ta’rwai, another Gaza resident sheltering in Zuweida, said that Haniyeh’s death had “crossed all its limits.”

“[Haniyeh] extended his arm for all peaceful negotiations, and aimed to solve the differences between the two countries. But [Israel] has managed to kill all possible paths to peace.”

Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri told Al-Aqsa TV that Israel will not succeed in breaking the will of the Palestinian people and that Hamas is an ideology that will not fade.

“This occupation must realize that it opened fire on itself and not on Ismail Haniyeh,” Abu Zuhri said. “Hamas grows with every drop of blood shed for the freedom of this pure land. The blood of leaders is not purer than the blood of the children of our people.”

The news of Haniyeh’s death came just hours after Israel said it had killed a top commander of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Fuad Shukr 'Sayyid Muhsan,' in an airstrike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut in retaliation for the Saturday killing of 12 children in a rocket attack on Majdal Shams in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights.

Hezbollah, like Hamas, is backed by Iran.

Israel blamed Hezbollah for the attack. Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia and political movement, has denied it was involved.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Hezbollah said Shukr was present in the building during the time of the attack, but did not confirm his death. Israel did not say how it determined the Hezbollah commander was killed or provide evidence of his death.

Who is Ismail Haniyeh?

Haniyeh, 62, grew up in Gaza and was imprisoned in Israel during the first Palestinian uprising of the 1980s.

Following his release, he rose through the ranks of Hamas, and survived an Israeli assassination attempt during the second Palestinian uprising in 2003.

He was Hamas’ top figure in Gaza when the militant group took control of the territory in 2007 and rose to become the head leader of the group in 2017. In 2018, the U.S. State Department formally designated Haniyeh as a terrorist. In recent years, he was based in Qatar’s capital Doha.

During his tenure, Hamas and Israel fought five wars, including the current conflict. Israeli military strikes in Gaza killed several of his sons and his sister this year.

It is unclear how much Haniyeh, based in Qatar, was aware of Hamas’ plans to attack Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7. But Haniyeh had been involved in the high-level negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange with Israel.

In May, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said he was seeking arrest warrants for Haniyeh and two other senior Hamas officials, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including rape, murder and hostage-taking during the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. The prosecutor also seeks arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s defense minister.

Of Hamas’ top four leaders, only one may still be alive today: Hamas’ Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar.

In January, Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri was killed in a presumed Israeli strike in Lebanon.

This month, Israel said it killed Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, in an airstrike that killed scores of other Palestinians, though his fate is still unknown. Hamas has not commented on whether he is alive or dead.