Hamas reports death of one of its most important leaders

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Lerato Khumalo

He is the political leader of Hamas and was considered one of the most influential Palestinian politicians: Now the terrorist organization reports the death of Ismail Haniya.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya has apparently been killed in the Iranian capital Tehran. The Palestinian terror group announced this early on Wednesday morning. Nothing was initially known about the circumstances of the death. Hamas blames Israel for the killing of Haniya. There was no initial statement from the Israeli side. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard confirmed Haniya’s death. He would be the highest-ranking Hamas leader to be killed since the start of the Gaza war around ten months ago.

Haniya was considered one of the most important political leaders of the Palestinian terrorist organization. He had lived in exile in Qatar for years. Haniya’s residence in Tehran was attacked, the Revolutionary Guard’s website, Sepah News, reported on Wednesday. Haniya and one of his bodyguards were killed. What exactly the Hamas leader was doing in Tehran is also not known. Iran is considered Hamas’s most important supporter.

A high-ranking Hamas official immediately threatened consequences following the killing of Haniya. Musa Abu Marsuk, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said on Wednesday that the “murder” of Haniya was a “cowardly act” and would “not go unanswered.”

News of Haniya’s killing came hours after an Israeli airstrike on a suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut. According to the Israeli army, Fuad Shukr, a senior commander of the Shiite militia Hezbollah, was killed. Read more about it here. Hezbollah is allied with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, both of which are in turn allied with Israel’s arch-enemy Iran.

Video | Israel attacks Hezbollah commander

Source: reuters

At the beginning of January, the second highest-ranking Hamas leader abroad, Saleh al-Aruri, was killed in an explosion in Beirut. Hezbollah blamed Israel for the death of the deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau. Several Hezbollah commanders were also deliberately killed.

Since the terrorist attack by Hamas and other groups on Israel on October 7, Hezbollah has been attacking targets in northern Israel in solidarity with Hamas. It will not stop its attacks until a ceasefire is reached in Gaza.

Before his death, Haniya took part in the swearing-in ceremony for the new Iranian President Massoud Peseschkian, Hamas said on its Telegram channel.

The 69-year-old Peseschkian, who is considered moderate, was sworn in in parliament in Tehran and thus officially takes office as the ninth president of the Islamic Republic. According to Iranian sources, high-ranking representatives from 86 countries attended the swearing-in ceremony. Most Western countries had neither congratulated Peseschkian on his election victory nor were their representatives on the parliament’s guest list.