Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, was reported to have been killed in Tehran by Iranian state media, Press TV, as confirmed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday.
Haniyeh, who served as the exiled political chief of the militant group and had been mostly residing in Qatar in recent years, played a key role in ceasefire negotiations and maintained close ties with Hamas’s ally, Iran, during the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Hamas issued a statement shortly after his reported death, stating that Haniyeh and his bodyguard were killed in a “Zionist raid” on his residence in Tehran following his attendance at the new Iranian president’s inauguration.
CNN notes that the timing of his death is unclear and has reached out to the Israeli military for a response to Hamas‘s allegations.
This tragic event follows Israeli airstrikes in April that resulted in the deaths of three of his sons and four of his grandchildren, as reported by Hamas.
