Top Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh Killed in Tehran Attack

Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh Killed in Tehran

Top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed early Wednesday morning in an attack on his residence in Tehran, according to a statement from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Hamas, a Palestinian militant group engaged in ongoing conflict with Israel, claimed that the attack was a result of an “Israeli” raid. This raid reportedly also claimed the life of one of Haniyeh’s bodyguards.

Hamas described the attack as a “treacherous Zionist raid” targeting Haniyeh’s residence. This significant event has prompted an emergency meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, convened at the residence of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Such high-level meetings are reserved for extraordinary circumstances.

Iran’s Emergency Meeting Following the Attack

The Supreme National Security Council’s emergency meeting reflects the gravity of the situation. Key figures, including the chief of the IRGC’s elite Quds Force, are in attendance. This rapid response underscores the sensitivity of the incident and its potential repercussions on regional stability.

Background on Ismail Haniyeh

Ismail Haniyeh, aged 62, was born in a refugee camp near Gaza City. He joined Hamas in the late 1980s, quickly rising through the ranks to become a close associate of the group’s founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Haniyeh spent several periods in Israeli prisons during the 1980s and 1990s. After Hamas’s victory in the 2006 legislative elections, he briefly served as the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority government. His tenure ended in 2007 when President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed him.

In 2017, Haniyeh was elected head of Hamas’s political wing and was subsequently designated a “specially designated global terrorist” by the United States.

Recent Developments

The killing of Haniyeh comes amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza war, where he had been playing a crucial role as a negotiator in ceasefire talks. Recently, Hamas claimed that Israeli airstrikes had killed three of Haniyeh’s sons and four of his grandchildren. This attack follows the recent claim by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) of having killed Fuad Shukr, a top commander of Hezbollah, who was allegedly behind a drone strike that resulted in the deaths of 12 children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Aakhir Tak Editor-in-Chief

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