Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of Hamas, was killed at his residence in Tehran. He was killed by an “airborne guided projectile.
Key points
- Haniyeh travelled to Iran to attend the inauguration of Masoud Pezeshkian, the Islamic Republic’s new President.
- His killing threatens the stability of the region and increases the risk of the Gaza war escalating into a regional conflict.
- The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite paramilitary force of Iran, and Hamas have blamed Israel for the killing of Haniye.
- Haniyeh was considered Hamas’s political leader and has been a prominent member of the movement for more than two decades.
- In 2006, he led Hamas to a legislative election over the Fatah movement which had been in power for more than 10 years.
- He was elected head of Hamas’s political bureau in 2017. The US Department of State designated him a “terrorist” in 2018.
- In 2019, he stepped down as Hamas head in Gaza. Haniyeh left the enclave and began living abroad, leading the group’s diplomatic efforts as its political chief.
