By Emmanuel Nduka
Ismail Haniyeh, a political leader of Hamas, has been assassinated in Iran after attending the inauguration of the country’s new president, both Iran and the militant group confirmed early Wednesday.
While no one immediately claimed responsibility for the assassination, suspicion has quickly fallen on Israel, which has previously vowed to target Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders in retaliation for the group’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7 which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people and the taking of approximately 250 hostages.
AP reports that a senior Palestinian official in the West Bank has denounced Haniyeh’s assassination as a “cowardly act.”
Hussein al-Sheikh, the Palestinian Authority’s civil affairs chief, posted on X, condemning the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Political Bureau and a national leader.
He described the act as cowardly and the need for greater unity among Palestinian forces and factions in resisting the occupation.
Back in May, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) listed Ismail Haniyeh among those for whom arrest warrants were being sought over actions during the Israel-Hamas conflict. Prosecutor Karim Khan accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders—Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh—of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.
In the West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Haniyeh’s killing, calling it a “cowardly act and dangerous development.”
Political factions in the occupied territory called for strikes to protest the killing. Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk stated that Haniyeh’s assassination would not go unanswered, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, also labeling the assassination a cowardly act.
Responding, Hamas released a statement saying Haniyeh was killed in a “Zionist airstrike on his residence in Tehran” following his participation in the inauguration of Iran’s new president.
“Hamas declares to the great Palestinian people and the people of the Arab and Islamic nations and all the free people of the world, brother leader Ismail Haniyeh a martyr.”
In April, an Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed three of Haniyeh’s sons and four of his grandchildren. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Haniyeh stated that the killings would not pressure Hamas to soften its positions amid ongoing cease-fire negotiations with Israel, accusing Israel of acting in a “spirit of revenge and murder.”
Haniyeh’s apparent assassination occurs at a precarious time, as the Biden administration has been trying to facilitate a temporary cease-fire and hostage release deal between Hamas and Israel.
CIA Director Bill Burns met with senior officials from Israel, Qatar, and Egypt in Rome, while Brett McGurk, the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, is in the region for talks with U.S. partners. The White House has not yet commented on reports of Haniyeh’s assassination.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced early Wednesday that the Hamas leader was assassinated in Tehran. Although no one immediately claimed responsibility for the assassination, suspicion quickly fell on Israel, which has vowed to target Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders following the group’s October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in 1,200 deaths and approximately 250 hostages being taken.
He was in Tehran for Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s swearing-in ceremony. Iran provided no details on how Haniyeh was killed, stating that the attack was under investigation.
Haniyeh had left the Gaza Strip in 2019 and was living in exile in Qatar, while Yehya Sinwar, the top Hamas leader in Gaza, masterminded the October 7 attack.
So far, Israel has not commented on the assassination, as it often refrains from doing so regarding operations attributed to its Mossad intelligence agency.
