Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in an attack in Tehran, where he had come to attend the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Massoud Pezeshkian.
Iranian state television, citing the Revolutionary Guards, reported that the head of Hamas’ political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, had died as a result of a terrorist attack on his residence in Tehran. It was also reported that one of Haniyeh’s bodyguards was killed in the attack.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kenani said: ‘Martyr Haniyeh’s blood will never be in vain. The martyrdom of our Mujahid brother in Tehran will strengthen the deep and unbreakable bond between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the beloved Palestine and the resistance.
In a written statement, Hamas confirmed Haniyeh’s death but described the attack as ‘an air strike organised by the Israeli army’.
Israeli army makes no comment
As the Israeli authorities continued their silence over Haniyeh’s killing, Israeli media reports said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had asked cabinet members not to comment on Haniyeh’s killing.
An official in the Israeli army’s spokesperson’s unit, contacted by AA by telephone, responded to the question “Do you confirm that Haniyeh was killed in the Israeli strike in Tehran?” by saying “We do not comment on this issue”.
However, the Israeli government has closed the north of the country to flights due to tensions in the region following the attacks in Beirut and Tehran. It said the flight ban would be in place for 24 hours, and no restrictions were imposed on land routes in the region.
An unnamed White House official, quoted by CNN, said: “We have seen the news that Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in Iran. The official did not elaborate”.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington would help defend Israel if it came under attack.
Fatah and PLO call for unity and resistance
According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, President Abbas strongly condemned the assassination of Haniyeh.
Describing Haniyeh’s assassination as a cowardly act and a dangerous development, Abbas called on the Palestinian people to resist and unite against the Israeli occupation.
Hussein al-Sheikh, Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Executive Council, also strongly condemned the assassination of Haniyeh.
Describing the assassination of the Hamas leader as a dangerous tension, Sheikh called for unity and resistance at a time when Israel has intensified its attacks against the Palestinian people.
Turkey: Aiming to spread the war
“This attack is aimed at spreading the war in Gaza to a regional dimension,” the Foreign Ministry said in a written statement blaming Israel.
“We condemn the assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in a dastardly attack in Tehran. We express our condolences to the Palestinian people, who have sacrificed hundreds of thousands of martyrs like Haniyeh in order to live peacefully in their homeland under the roof of their own state.”
The statement stressed that the Netanyahu government’s lack of intention to achieve peace had been demonstrated once again, and noted: “This attack also aims to expand the war in Gaza to a regional dimension. If the international community does not act to stop Israel, our region will face much bigger conflicts. Turkey will continue to support the just cause of the Palestinian people”.
“This is an absolutely unacceptable political assassination and will lead to a further escalation of tensions,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
3 sons and 4 grandchildren killed
On 10 April, the Israeli army shot down a car carrying many members of the family of Ismail Haniyeh, Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, who was celebrating Eid al-Fitr with residents and relatives of the Ash-Shati refugee camp in western Gaza City.
Haniyeh, who lost 3 sons and 4 grandchildren in the attack, said that “his children did not leave Gaza and sacrificed their lives for the liberation of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque”.
Haniyeh’s grandson Malak Haniyeh, who was wounded in the Israeli army’s attack on Eid al-Fitr, also died in the hospital where he was being treated.
According to the Israeli press, ‘the assassination of Haniyeh’s sons was carried out in cooperation with the Israeli army and intelligence’.
Haniyeh was elected by the Hamas Shura Council on 6 May 2017 to replace Khaled Meshaal as head of the Hamas Political Bureau.
