Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, is said to have died in an Israeli airstrike in Tehran as he was present for the inauguration of Iran's new president, according to Hamas claims. The group threatened to take revenge and denounced the assassination as a "cowardly act". The Revolutionary Guards of Iran verified the demise, stating that Haniyeh and a bodyguard perished when his Tehran apartment was attacked. The incident has not yet been addressed by the Israeli army.
This incident comes after Israel recently targeted a Hezbollah base in Beirut, killing a senior commander of the Iran-backed group. This commander was allegedly involved in a rocket strike on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, which resulted in considerable casualties and destruction.
Mahmoud Abbas, president of Palestine, not only mourned the death of Haniyeh but also called for the unification of Palestinians against Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has, in the meantime, re-advanced his pledge to destroy Hamas and free all prisoners captured during the October 7 attacks that triggered the present warfare in Gaza.
Since the October 7 bombings, which sparked the Israel-Hamas conflict, there have been significant losses on both sides. Official estimates place the number of deaths from the conflict at about 1,197 for Israelis and about 39,400 for Palestinians. Regional actors have been drawn to the fighting, including terrorist organizations supported by Iran in a number of nations.
Haniyeh, who had been a prominent figure in Hamas since its early days, was elected head of the group's political bureau in 2017. Known for his pragmatic approach, he had lived in exile and maintained strong relations with other Palestinian factions and regional allies, including Iran and Turkey. Despite the ongoing conflict, Iran has remained a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause and praised Hamas's October 7 attack, though it denies direct involvement.
