Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Israeli airstrike in Iran, group says

Hamas‘ political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, died in an Israeli strike on his home in Tehran early Wednesday, the group announced.

Haniyeh, the group’s political chief, was killed after attending in the inauguration ceremony for Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Hamas said in a statement.

Haniyeh “died as a result of a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran,” Hamas said in a statement on Telegram.

The hunt for Hamas’ leadership has been ongoing for months, and in April, three of Haniyeh’s sons were killed in an airstrike on the Gaza Strip.

Iranian state news agency IRNA also reported his death, without giving any further details. Israeli officials did not comment on the reports.

The chief of Israeli’s Mossad intelligence agency vowed to kill Haniyeh after Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks that left 1,200 dead and resulted in the kidnapping of some 250.

His sons were among the most high-profile figures to have been killed during the war triggered by Oct. 7’s attacks, which triggered a war that has left some 40,000 Palestinians dead, according to health officials in Gaza, and destroyed much of the enclave. Haniyeh had then vowed that Hamas would not cave under Israeli pressure.

The strike came after the Israeli military said it killed the Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr in a strike Tuesday on a suburb in southern Beirut, known to be the home for Hezbollah’s headquarters. The strike, it said, was against the commander responsible for the deadly attack on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that killed 12 people last week.

On the Hamas-run Al Aqsa TV, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the group is “waging an open war to liberate Jerusalem and are ready to pay various prices.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.