Hamas's top political leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in the Iranian capital Tehran, Hamas and Iranian state media reported early Wednesday morning (31 July). Haniyeh was killed in an attack on the house where he was staying, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards said in a statement, according to international news agencies. One of his bodyguards was also killed in the attack. Hamas called it "a cowardly act that will not go unpunished".
According to media reports, the Hamas leader was killed when an "airborne guided missile" hit a special residence for military veterans in northern Tehran where he was staying at around 2am.
Ismail Haniyeh, 62, has been the supreme leader of the Palestinian movement Hamas, which also has a military wing and is listed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the EU and the US, among others, since May 2017. Before that, Haniyeh was head of government in the Gaza Strip, where he was born. He negotiated a ceasefire in Gaza on behalf of Hamas.
Haniyeh's funeral will be held in Tehran on Thursday. His body will then be taken to Doha in Qatar for burial. Hamas said.
