On Wednesday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran. Both Hamas and Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards confirmed this in separate statements. Hamas announced that Haniyeh was killed in “a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran.” He was killed by Israel in Iran on 31 July 2024.
Haniyeh had attended the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, the day before.
The Revolutionary Guards reported, “Early this morning, Ismail Haniyeh’s residence in Tehran was hit, resulting in his death and the death of one of his bodyguards.” Iranian state media reported that the investigation into Haniyeh’s death is ongoing, with results expected later today.
The IRGC expressed condolences to “the heroic Palestinian nation, the Muslim Ummah, resistance fighters, and the Iranian people over the loss of the senior Palestinian leader,” as reported by state media.
Haniyeh was in Tehran for the swearing-in ceremony of President Masoud Pezeshkian. The White House is aware of reports of Haniyeh’s death but has not yet commented.
Haniyeh chaired the Hamas Political Bureau and had been living in Qatar since 2023.
Haniyeh was born in 1962 in the al-Shati refugee camp, located in the Gaza Strip during the Egyptian occupation. He studied at the Islamic University of Gaza, where he first became involved with Hamas, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Arabic literature in 1987. He rose through the ranks of the organization, heading a Hamas office in 1997.
In 2006, Haniyeh led the Hamas list that won the Palestinian legislative elections, leading to his appointment as Prime Minister of the State of Palestine. However, on June 14, 2007, Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority, removed him from office.
He served as Hamas leader in Gaza from 2006 until February 2017, when Yahya Sinwar replaced him. On May 6, 2017, Haniyeh was chosen as chairman of Hamas’s Political Bureau, taking over from Khaled Mashal. After his election, he moved to Qatar.
