Iran's Revolutionary Guards have announced that Ismail Haniyeh, a prominent leader of Hamas, was killed in Tehran. Haniyeh was reportedly in the city to attend Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian’s swear-in ceremony on Tuesday. Iran gave no details on how Haniyeh was killed, and the Guard said the attack was under investigation.
"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," said a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps's Sepah news website.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, but suspicion quickly fell on Israel. The country had previously vowed to target Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders in response to the group's October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in 1,200 deaths and the abduction of around 250 individuals.
Yet the Iranian state television analysts promptly pointed the finger at Israel. While Israel has not yet commented on the incident, it is known for not acknowledging assassinations conducted by its Mossad intelligence agency. Israel is also suspected of conducting a yearslong campaign targeting Iranian nuclear scientists and others involved in the country's atomic program.
Hamas declared in a post on its official Telegram that Haniyeh was killed in a "deceitful Zionist raid," on Wednesday, July 30.