RIYADH: The leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, has been assassinated in Iran, the Palestinian group said.
Iranian state television reported the killing early Wednesday morning.
A statement from Iran's Revolutionary Guards said that Hanija and a bodyguard were ambushed at their residence and an investigation is underway.
Haniyeh, who was the head of the political office of Hamas of the Islamic Resistance, traveled to Iran for the swearing-in ceremony of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The 62-year-old Palestinian leader previously met with Pezeshkian and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, said: “This assassination of Brother Haniyeh caused by the Israeli occupation is a serious escalation aimed at breaking the will of Hamas and the will of our people and achieving false goals. We confirm that this escalation will not achieve its goals.”
“Hamas is a concept and an institution, not a person. Hamas will continue on this path regardless of the casualties, and we believe in victory.”
Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, head of Yemen's Houthis, said: “Targeting Ismail Haniyeh is a heinous terrorist crime and a flagrant violation of laws and ideal values.
Israel vowed to wipe out Hamas after the group carried out a deadly raid on settlements outside the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking hostages back into the Palestinian enclave.
Israel launched a devastating military offensive in Gaza soon after and has since killed over 40,000 people, mostly civilians.
Both sides, with the help of the US and regional negotiators, are trying to negotiate a deal to release the hostages that would include a cessation of fighting.
The assassination comes at a time of escalating hostilities between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah, which has been blamed for an attack on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights that killed 12 children at the weekend.
On Tuesday evening, Israel struck a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon, killing Fuad Shukr, head of Hezbollah's military operations room, who Israel said was responsible for the attack in the Golan Heights, which the Lebanese group denies.
Israel, which has not yet commented on Haniyeh's killing, has previously carried out assassinations in Iran of figures key to the Islamic republic's nuclear program.
In 2021, Israel assassinated Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a leading Iranian nuclear scientist.
However, since the Gaza war, Israel has carried out targeted attacks on key Hamas and IRGC figures, including Saleh Al-Arouri, the leader of the Palestinian group.
In April, Iran said its consulate in Damascus was destroyed and a top general was killed in an attack Tehran blames on Israel.
Iran fired missiles at Israel soon after, but all were shot down. Israel intervened by attacking sites in Isfahan.
Further escalation between the two sides has been avoided through diplomacy, but Israel continues to attack Iranian affiliates in Syria.
The scale of Israel's military response to Hamas attacks has been condemned, with the International Court of Justice agreeing that there may be a case where the country engaged in genocide.
Israel has also been accused of collective punishment and using starvation as a weapon in the fight against the militant group.
