Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike in Tehran, Iran’s capital city, with the militant group blaming Israel and Iranian officials vowing for retaliation, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday (July 31).
Israel didn’t immediately give a public comment on Haiyeh’s death, however, vowed to kill him and other Hamas leaders following the October 7, 2023 attack committed by the group that killed 1,139 people and resulted in 250 Israeli hostages being taken to the Gaza strip. The airstrike that killed Haniyeh took place just after he attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and hours after Israel targeted a top commander in the Lebanese Shia Islamist group Hezbollah in Beirut.
“We consider his revenge as our duty,” Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement on his official website, claiming Israel “prepared a harsh punishment for itself” by killing “a dear guest in our home,” according to the Associated Press.
Israel has been at war with Hamas since the attack on October 7, 2023, and Haniyeh’s killing will likely stop potential negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage release deal. Iran and Israel have been at war since April after Israel hit Iran’s embassy, which led to Iran retaliating and Israel countering in a series of air strikes.
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