Palestinian militant group Hamas said July 31 its political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in an Israeli strike in Iran, where he had been attending the inauguration of the country’s new president.
“Brother, leader, mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement, died in a Zionist strike on his headquarters in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of the new (Iranian) president,” the movement said in a statement.
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, him and one of his bodyguards were martyred,” said a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s Sepah news website.
Haniyeh had travelled to Tehran to attend Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on reports of Haniyeh’s death.
Haniyeh’s political journey began in earnest with his involvement in Hamas, a militant Islamist organization founded in 1987 during the First Intifada. He rose to prominence in 2006 when he led Hamas to a significant victory in the Palestinian legislative elections, subsequently becoming the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority. However, a violent power struggle between Hamas and Fatah, the rival Palestinian faction, led to Hamas seizing control of Gaza in 2007. Following this, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh’s role as Prime Minister, though Hamas continued to govern Gaza independently.
In 2017, Haniyeh succeeded Khaled Meshaal as the Chief of the Hamas Political Bureau.