Hamas tough face Ismail Haniyeh killed in Iran, Hamas says

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran on Wednesday, the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said in separate statements.

The Islamist faction mourned the death of Haniyeh, who it said was killed in “a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran”.

Hanieh attended Iran’s new president’s swearing in ceremony on Tuesday.

“Early this morning, the residence of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was struck, resulting in his and one of his body guards’ martyrdom. The cause is under investigation and will be announced soon,” the Revolutionary Guards said.

Killing of Haniyeh inside Iran raises serious question about the intelligence capability of Iranian security agencies especially in the back drop of Hamas leader was present in Tehran for the oath ceremony of newly elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Ismail Haniyeh, was the tough-talking face of the Palestinian group’s international diplomacy as war raged back in Gaza, where three of his sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

But despite the rhetoric, he was seen by many diplomats as a moderate compared to the more hardline members of the Iran-backed group inside Gaza.

Appointed to the Hamas top job in 2017, Haniyeh moved between Turkey and Qatar’s capital Doha, escaping the travel curbs of the blockaded Gaza Strip and enabling him to act as a negotiator in ceasefire talks or to talk to Hamas’ ally Iran.