News Mania Desk/Agnibeena Ghosh/31st July 2024
Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was reportedly killed in Tehran, according to Iranian state media and the Palestinian militant group. Haniyeh, who headed the Hamas politburo, was killed in what Hamas described as an Israeli airstrike on his residence. This incident, reported on Wednesday, was attributed to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) by Iranian media.
Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike for Haniyeh’s death, with the Associated Press noting that an Israeli military spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment. According to reports, the airstrike occurred after Haniyeh attended the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian. The event was also attended by officials from Hamas and Hezbollah.
Further details emerged from the Times of Israel, which cited a pro-Hezbollah Lebanese news site, al Mayadeen, claiming that a missile fired from outside Iran was responsible for Haniyeh’s death. This source emphasized that the missile did not originate from within Iran. Although the IRGC initially stated that it was investigating the attack, Iranian media later confirmed that Haniyeh was killed by an airstrike.
Additional reports from Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency indicated that Haniyeh was staying in a special residence for war veterans in north Tehran when the air-launched missile struck. While no group had claimed responsibility for the attack at the time of reporting, analysts on Iranian state television immediately pointed fingers at Israel.
Israel has not issued an official comment regarding Haniyeh’s killing, but the country has been widely suspected of conducting a long-term assassination campaign targeting Iranian nuclear scientists connected to its atomic program. This ongoing suspicion adds context to the immediate blame directed at Israel for this attack.
In response to the incident, Iran convened an emergency meeting of its Supreme National Security Council at Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s residence. This meeting, reported by the New York Times and citing Iranian officials, included Esmail Ghaani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, which oversees Tehran’s proxy operations.
The urgency of this meeting underscores the gravity of the situation, described as an extraordinary circumstance by Iranian sources. Iranian state television suggested that Haniyeh’s killing would delay a planned Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal by several months and provoke retaliation from Iran-backed groups in the region. These statements reflect the positions held by Khamenei and the Iranian government.
The death of Ismail Haniyeh marks a significant development in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, as well as the broader Middle East tensions. The fallout from this incident is likely to have profound implications for regional stability and the dynamics of proxy wars involving Iran and its allies.
