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Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh killed in attack on his Iran home

Last updated on: July 31, 2024 09:40 IST

Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in an attack in Iran's capital, Tehran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Wednesday.

IMAGE: KHamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh. Photograph: @khamenei_ir/X

In a statement to Meher News Agency the IRGC said that Ismail Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed after their residence was targeted in Tehran.

"With condolences to the heroic nation of Palestine and the Islamic nation and the combatants of the Resistance Front and the noble nation of Iran, this morning (Wednesday) the residence of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political office of the Islamic Resistance of Hamas, was hit in Tehran, and following this incident, he and one of his bodyguards were martyred," the statement read.

 

Earlier on Tuesday, Iran's Supreme Leader, Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei, held a meeting with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh.

Khamenei took to social media platform X to share pictures of his meeting with Haniyeh.

In a post on X, Khamenei's office stated, "Imam Khamenei met with Mr. Ismail Haniyah, head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, and Mr. Ziyad al-Nakhalah, the Secretary General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement."

In its reply to the post, the Israel Defence Forces posted "Did someone ask for a photo-op of Iran and the leaders of their proxies? Iran's Khamenei met with Hamas' Ismail Haniyah and the Islamic Jihad's Ziyad-al Nakhalah -- two of the terrorist organizations who have been attempting to kill Israelis using weapons made and funded by Iran. We can only assume the topics of conversation included how to spend more Iranian money to kill Israelis while wishing Hezbollah's Nasrallah could join them."

Ismail Haniyeh who is based in Qatar, was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Iranian President-elect, Masoud Pezeshkian.

Earlier in April, three sons of Haniyeh were killed in an air strike carried out by the Israeli Air Force.

Source: ANI