Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, that Ismail Haniyeh, the chief of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, was killed in Tehran along with one of his bodyguards.
“The residence of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political office of Hamas Islamic Resistance, was hit in Tehran, and as a result of this incident, he and one of his bodyguards were martyred,” stated the IRG Corps’ Sepah news website.
The cause of the incident is currently under investigation, according to the Guards.
Haniyeh had arrived in Tehran on Tuesday to attend the inauguration of Iran’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian. During his visit, he met with Pezeshkian and Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
This development comes amid heightened regional tensions following a rocket attack on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, which Israel attributed to Lebanon’s Hezbollah, a claim the group has denied. In retaliation, Israel struck Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut, claiming to have killed the commander responsible for the Golan attack.
Iran, which does not recognize Israel and considers it its arch-foe, has repeatedly warned Israel against attacking Lebanon. “The Zionist regime (Israel) will make a great mistake with heavy consequences if it attacks Lebanon,” Pezeshkian said during a call with French President Emmanuel Macron.
The ongoing conflict has seen significant casualties on both sides since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023. The war began with a Hamas attack on southern Israel, resulting in 1,197 deaths and the taking of 251 hostages. Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza has resulted in over 39,400 deaths, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Iran has maintained its support for the Palestinian cause since the 1979 Islamic revolution and has hailed Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, although it denies any direct involvement.
