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Hamas chief assassinated in airstrike in Tehran
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in a statement said Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were assassinated early on Wednesday July 31, 2024 at their accommodation in Tehran as a result of a terrorist act perpetrated by the cowardly and criminal Israeli regime.
The IRGC stated that the late Hamas chief was among the distinguished personalities of about 110 foreign delegations, who had been invited by the Iranian Parliament to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The IRGC warned Israel of a harsh and stinging response from the forces of the Axis of Resistance, particularly Iran, in retaliation for the assassination of Haniyeh.
“Undoubtedly, the heinous crime committed by the Zionist regime concerning the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, chief of the political bureau of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, will be met with a harsh and painful response from the powerful Resistance Front, especially the Islamic [Republic of] Iran,” the elite force said in a statement released on Wednesday.
According to Iranian media reports, the 2:00 a.m. strike targeted “the special residences for war veterans in north Tehran” where Haniyeh was staying.
Iran declared three days of national mourning for the loss of the Palestinian resistance leader.
An “official and public” funeral ceremony for Haniyeh will be held in Tehran today before his body is flown to Qatar, his base in recent years, for burial on Friday, Hamas said.
Haniyeh, 62, was born in a refugee camp near Gaza City and joined Hamas in the late 1980s during the First Intifada or uprising.
As Hamas grew in power, Haniyeh rose through the ranks and was appointed part of a “collective leadership” in 2004 and reached the Hamas top job in 2017. Three of his sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza in April.