Hamas political head Ismail Haniyeh martyred

Tehran: Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas political wing, was martyred in an assassination attack in Tehran.

The Revolutionary Guards said that Ismail Haniyeh has been martyred in Tehran.

Iranian TV stated that Ismail Haniyeh was in Tehran to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of the Iranian president, and he was killed by an attack on his residence.

Iranian authorities added that the results of the investigation of the assassination attack will be revealed soon.

Who was Ismail Haniyeh?

The former Prime Minister of Palestine Ismail Haniyeh was the political head of Hamas and the chairman of the political bureau of Hamas. In 2017, he was appointed as the political head of Hamas in place of Khalid Mashaal. He has been residing in Qatar since 2023.

Ismail was a young founding member of Hamas when it was founded in 1988. In 1997, he became the personal secretary of Hamas's spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Held in prison for months, after being re-arrested in 1989. Ismail was deported to Lebanon in 1992, and returned to Gaza the following year after the Oslo Accords.

In 2006, after the majority of Hamas in the Palestinian elections, Ismail Haniyeh was appointed as the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority. Due to the differences between Hamas and Fatah, the government did not last long, but the rule of Hamas in Gaza remained and Ismail Haniyeh is its head.