Hamas says its leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran after attending the inauguration of the countrys new president Iran and the militant group said early WednesdayHamas blamed an Israeli airstrike for the death of the head of the Palestinian militant groups political bureau Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it was investigating the attack and did not say how it occurredIsrael has vowed to kill Haniyeh and other leaders of Hamas over the groups Oct 7 attack on Israel that killed 1200 people and saw some 250 others taken hostageAn Israeli military spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Israel often doesnt comment on assassinations carried out by its Mossad intelligence agencyHamas said Haniyeh was killed in a Zionist airstrike on his residence in Tehran after he attended the swearingin of Irans President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday along with other Hamas officials and officials from Hezbollah and allied groupsHamas declares to the great Palestinian people and the people of the Arab and Islamic nations and all the free people of the world brother leader Ismail Ismail Haniyeh a martyr Hamas said in its terse statementIn another statement the group quoted Haniyeh as saying that the Palestinian cause has costs and we are ready for these costs martyrdom for the sake of Palestine and for the sake of God Almighty and for the sake of the dignity of this nationHamas officials did not immediately respond to requests for further commentIn the West Bank the internationally backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Haniyehs killing calling it a cowardly act and dangerous development Political factions in the occupied territory called for strikes in protest at the killingHaniyeh left the Gaza Strip in 2019 and had lived in exile in Qatar The top Hamas leader in Gaza is Yehya Sinwar who masterminded the Oct 7 attackIn April an Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed three of Haniyehs sons and four of his grandchildrenIn an interview with the Al Jazeera satellite channel at the time Haniyeh said the killings would not pressure Hamas into softening its positions amid ongoing ceasefire negotiations with IsraelThe killing of Haniyeh comes after Israel carried out a rare strike on Beirut which it said killed Fouad Shukur a top Hezbollah military commander Hezbollah has not confirmed Shukurs death in the strike which also killed at least one woman and two children and wounded dozens of peopleThe strike came amid escalating hostilities with the Lebanese militant group The US also blames Shukur for planning and launching the deadly 1983 Marine bombing in the Lebanese capitalMeanwhile Iraqs Popular Mobilization Forces a coalition of Iranianbacked militias said that a strike Tuesday night on a base southwest of Baghdad killed four members of the Kataib Hezbollah militiaThe group accused the United States of being behind the strike Kataib Hezbollah along with some of the other militias has in recent months carried out attacks against bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for Washingtons support for Israel in the war in Gaza US officials did not immediately commentThere was no immediate reaction from the White House to the killing of Haniyeh The apparent assassination comes at a precarious time as the Biden administration has tried to push Hamas and Israel to agree to at least a temporary ceasefire and hostagerelease dealCIA Director Bill Burns was in Rome on Sunday to meet with senior Israel Qatari and Egyptian officials in the latest round of talks Separately Brett McGurk the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa is in the region for talks with US partnersIsrael is suspected of running a yearslong assassination campaign targeting Iranian nuclear scientists and others associated with its atomic program In 2020 a top Iranian military nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed by a remotecontrolled machine gun while traveling in a car outside TehranIn Israels war against Hamas since the October attack more than 39360 Palestinians have been killed and more than 90900 wounded according to the Gaza Health Ministry whose count does not differentiate between civilians and combatantsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever