Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed while in Tehran, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said early July 31.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziyad al-Nakhaleh was also in Tehran for the inauguration.
The IRGC said in a statement that the incident is under investigation, state media reported.
Israel has been fighting Hamas in Gaza since the terrorist group launched an attack on border cities in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 civilians and military members as hostages.
Haniyeh, who assumed the leadership position in 2017, had been living in Qatar along with other Hamas leaders. He had played a major part in building up Hamas’s fighting capacity, in part by strengthening ties with Iran. Since Haniyeh’s departure from Gaza, Yahya Sinwar has been the Hamas chief in the Gaza Strip.
Previously, three of Haniyeh’s sons were killed on April 10 in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip.
Two-Front War
In response to an attack in Israel’s Golan Heights on July 27 that killed 12 children, Israel on July 30 struck a Hezbollah stronghold near Beirut, killing a commander that it says was responsible for the Golan Heights blast. The July 30 attack on Beirut also killed three others.Israel’s fight against Iran-backed Hezbollah has intensified in recent weeks, while it has been fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to retaliate against Hezbollah for its July 27 attack.
Prior to the soccer field attack by Hezbollah, the two sides had been targeting each other with rockets.