TEHRAN: Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has been assassinated in Iran's capital Tehran, Hamas announced on Wednesday.
This was confirmed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite military wing of Iran, who revealed that Haniyeh's residence in the Iranian capital city of Tehran was targeted in the attack that killed him.
Palestinian resistance group Hamas released a statement to condemn the death of their leader. They accused the Zionist regime of Israel, their arch enemy, of executing the plot to assassinate Ismail Haniyeh on his residence in Tehran.
Notably, Haniyeh was in the Iranian capital to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday.
The IGRC did not disclose details as to how the Hamas chief was killed but informed that they are investigating the attack.
"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 Mr. Dr. 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 IRGC statement read.
"The cause is under investigation and will be announced soon," it added.
Hamas has blamed Israel for the assassination of their leader and warned that they will retaliate with a befitting response.
It is worth mentioning that Ismail Haniyeh served as the spokesperson for the Palestinian group's global diplomacy during the ongoing war in Gaza.
Despite his strong public statements, Haniyeh was considered to be a moderate figure by many diplomats as compared to the hardline members of the Iran-backed group based in the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
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