Palestinian militant organization Hamas on Wednesday said that its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in a “Zionist raid” on his residence in Tehran.
In a statement posted on Telegram, Hamas mourned Haniyeh’s death “as a result of a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran.”
There was initially no confirmation from the Israeli side.
The news of Haniya’s killing came a few hours after an Israeli airstrike on a suburb of Beirut targeted a commander of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia, Fuad Shukr “Sayyid Muhsan.”
There has been no confirmation of the death by Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah is allied with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They are both also allied with Israel’s arch-enemy Iran.
Since Hamas led unprecedented attacks and massacres in Israel on October 7, triggering the current conflict in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah has traded attacks with the Israeli military almost daily on the Lebanese-Israeli border.
Hamas said that Haniyeh was killed after he had attended the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, which had taken place on Sunday in the Iranian capital.
The 69-year-old Pezeshkian, who is considered a moderate, was sworn in and officially took office as the ninth president of the Islamic Republic.
According to Iranian reports, high-ranking representatives from 86 countries took part in the swearing-in ceremony. Most Western countries neither congratulated Pezeshkian on his election victory nor sent representatives.
