TEHRAN – Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in the Iranian capital, an alarming development first confirmed by the Palestinian group Hamas and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps on Wednesday.

According to Iranian media as reported by Al Jazeera, an “airborne guided projectile” resulted in the killing of Haniyeh. The attack took place at around 2am local time [22:30 GMT on Tuesday] at his residence in the north of the city.

Similarly, Saudi outlet Al Hadath says that a guided missile was used to target the Hamas leader in Tehran.

Haniyeh was killed in “a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran”, Hamas had said earlier.

On the other hand, the IRGC said the Hamas leader was assassinated at his residence.

“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 IRGC added in its immediate comments.

Haniyeh – the political chief of Hamas – was in Tehran where he attended the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday.

Israel had promised to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders as it started bombing Gaza and targeting the Palestinians in the West Bank after the October 7 attack carried out by the group.

HEZBOLLAH COMMANDER KILLED

Earlier on Tuesday, Israel claimed killing Fuad Shukur – senior military commander of Hezbollah – in an airstrike in Beirut, in what it called a retaliatory action after a deadly rocket attack on Golan Heights.

The rocket attack had killed 12 Druze youngsters. Hezbollah denies any involvement in the incident and refutes the Israeli claims which are also backed by the United States.

However, Hezbollah says Shukur’s fate isn’t known yet. He was present in the building at the time of airstrike and the attack caused significant destruction to several floors” of the structure.

“Since the incident, civil defense teams have been diligently working to remove the rubble, albeit slowly due to the condition of the destroyed floors,” it said.

“We are still awaiting the outcome of this operation concerning the fate of the esteemed leader and other citizens in this location to act accordingly.”

Golan Heights is an Israeli-occupied territory since the Six Day War in 1967 which Tel Aviv formally annexed, albeit illegally in 1981. However, the world community does not recognize the move.

Meanwhile, Syria still controls around one-third of the region, which is located in the southwest corner of the country. It also borders Lebanon and Jordan in the north and the south respectively.

GRAVE ESCALATION

“This assassination by the Israeli occupation of Brother Haniyeh is a grave escalation that aims to break the will of Hamas,” senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

“We are confident of victory,” he vowed.

IT WON’T GO UNPUNISHED

On the other hand, another Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk promised that they would respond to Haniyeh’s assassination.

Al-Aqsa television channel – a media outlet operated by the Palestinian group – called the raid a “cowardly act that will not go unpunished”.

SITUATION ASSESSMENT VS WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has so far neither issued any formally statement or commented to the grave development. However, an IDF spokesperson, Daniel Hagrai, said in a post shared through X [formally known as Twitter] that there were no changes in the defense policy.

“At this time, the IDF is conducting a situation assessment. If any changes are decided, we will update the public immediately.”

On the other hand, a cabinet member – Amichay Eliyahu who belongs to the Israeli far right – said the killing “makes the world a better place”.

In his comments posted on X, he said, “This is the right way to clean the world from this filth.”

He went on to say that there would be “no more imaginary peace/surrender agreements, no more mercy for these mortals”.

He added that “the iron hand that will strike them” and that such actions will “strengthen our ability to live in peace with those who desire peace”.