Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran’s capital Tehran, the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.
In the statement, the Islamist faction mourned the death of Haniyeh, who it said was killed in “a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran”.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also said on Wednesday that Haniyeh 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, him and one of his bodyguards were martyred,” a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Sepah news website said.
The cause of the “incident” was not immediately clear but the Guards said it was “being investigated”.
Haniyeh arrived in Tehran on Tuesday to attend the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, in parliament.
He had met with Pezeshkian as well as Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Gaza war tension escalates on Lebanon front
Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony came amid on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
Israel has accused Hezbollah of responsibility for the attack that killed 12 children, but the Iran-backed Lebanese group has denied any involvement.
Later on Tuesday, Israel , saying it had killed the commander responsible for the attack.
An Agence France-Presse source close to Hezbollah said the target was Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah commander, but that he “survived the Israeli strike”.
Iran, which does not recognise Israel and considers it to be 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 Monday call with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to the Iranian president’s website.
Regional tensions have soared since the start of the Hamas-Israel war in October, drawing in Iran-backed militant groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.
Who was Ismail Haniyeh?
Haniyeh was the tough-talking face of Hamas’ international diplomacy as war raged back in Gaza, where three of his sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike this year.
But despite the rhetoric, he was seen by many diplomats as a moderate compared to the more hardline members of the Iran-backed group inside Gaza.
Appointed to the Hamas top job in 2017, Haniyeh moved between Türkiye and Qatar’s capital Doha, escaping the travel curbs of the blockaded Gaza Strip and enabling him to act as a negotiator in ceasefire talks or talk to Hamas’ ally Iran.
Three of Haniyeh’s sons — Hazem, Amir and Mohammad — were after the car they were driving in was bombed in al-Shati camp near Gaza City.
Four of Haniyeh’s grandchildren were also killed in the April attack.
This is a developing story and this article will be updated.
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