Top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed during a visit to Iran for the inauguration of the nation’s new president, the terrorist group and Iranian state media said. Israel has not yet claimed responsibility for the brazen strike on the head of Hamas’s political arm, though the terror group and its backers in Iran have already vowed to retaliate against the Jewish state.
Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, was killed during a visit to Iran for the inauguration of its new president, hours after an Israeli strike killed a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut in retaliation for an attack that killed a dozen children in northern Israel over the weekend. Haniyeh was living in Qatar and participated in cease-fire negotiations over the conflict between Israel and Hamas that began after Hamas slaughtered 1,200 people and took 250 hostages on October 7.
In a statement, Hamas’s military wing said “the criminal assassination of the leader Haniyeh in the heart of the Iranian capital is a significant and dangerous event that shifts the battle to new dimensions and will have major repercussions across the entire region.”
Haniyeh’s death immediately drew condemnation from Palestinian leaders and other Iranian proxies allied with Hamas. Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised “severe punishment” for Israel and blamed the Jewish state for Haniyeh’s death.
“The criminal, terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our territory and has caused our grief, but it has also prepared the ground for a severe punishment,” he said.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is also vowing that Israel will face a “harsh” and “painful” retaliation for the attack.
“Undoubtedly, this crime of the Zionist regime will face a harsh and painful response from the powerful and great front of the Resistance, especially Islamic Iran,” the militant group said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Singaporean news outlet CNA that the U.S. had no involvement in the attack on Haniyeh, and declined to predict the potential consequences of his death. Blinken is hoping cease-fire negotiations can continue instead of further escalation across the region, but it remains unclear how Haniyeh’s death will impact the discussions.
Similarly, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the U.S. had “no involvement” in the attack on Haniyeh, but could not provide additional details about it.
“I don’t have anything for you on that. And we certainly have heard the reporting, but I don’t have any additional information,” Austin said. If Israel is attacked, Austin said the U.S. would come to its defense.
Earlier this year, Iran launched a barrage of drones and missiles towards Israel to retaliate for an alleged Israeli strike in Syria. Israel successfully defended itself against the unprecedented attack with support from the U.S., U.K., and other allies in the Middle East.