VIDEO: ‘Israel’ assassinates Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran: Hamas

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) announced just now the martyrdom of its politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh following an ‘Israeli’ airstrike on his residence in Tehran.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that they are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding Haniyeh’s assassination and will announce the results later. 

The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), the official news agency of Iran, said that Haniyeh was killed along with one of his bodyguards in the ‘Israeli’ airstrike that targeted his residence in Tehran.

Read more: VIDEO: Explosion rocks Beirut

Hamas said earlier yesterday that Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement's political bureau, and a Hamas delegation visited Iran to attend the inauguration of the new Iranian president.

In a statement on Tuesday, Hamas reported that Haniyeh and the delegation attended meetings, including with new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Haniyeh congratulated the new president on gaining the trust of the Iranian people and assuming the presidency.

Haniyeh briefed Pezeshkian on the latest political and field developments related to the Gaza conflict, and expressed his gratitude to the Islamic Republic of Iran for its honorable stance in supporting the resilience of the Palestinian people – per the statement.

In response, the Iranian president reaffirmed his country’s steadfast position in supporting the Palestinian people, wishing them and their resistance success in their just struggle against “Israeli” aggression.

Read more: Hamas warns leader’s killing in Iran ‘will not go unanswered’

Ismail Haniyeh (known as Abu al-Abd) was a Palestinian politician, the head of Hamas's political bureau, and the Prime Minister of the Palestinian government from 2006 to 2007.

He was imprisoned by the Israeli occupation in 1989 for three years and later exiled to Marj al-Zuhur on the Lebanese-Palestinian border along with several Hamas leaders, where he spent a full year in imprisonment  in 1992.

Elected as the head of Hamas's political bureau in 2017, Haniyeh succeeded Khaled Meshaal. He assumed the role of Prime Minister following Hamas's unexpected victory in the parliamentary elections.

Born in 1962 in the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City, Haniyeh's parents fled their home near what is now Ashkelon, ‘Israel’, during the 1948 Arab-’Israeli’ War.

He studied Arabic literature at the Islamic University of Gaza, where he became involved in the Islamic movement.

After Ahmed Yassin was released from prison by the occupation in 1997, Haniyeh was appointed as his assistant. The close relationship between the two men led to Haniyeh gaining increasing significance within the movement, eventually becoming the group's representative.

In September 2003, Haniyeh and Ahmed Yassin were lightly injured in an ‘Israeli’ airstrike on a residential building in Gaza City. They had exited the building moments before the bomb fell after hearing an ‘Israeli’ aircraft approaching.

Haniyeh was chosen to lead Hamas's campaign for the January 15 elections. Under his leadership, Hamas won 76 out of 132 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council.

Afterwards, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas requested Hamas to form a new government.

However, weeks of negotiations to form a coalition with the previous ruling Fatah movement and other factions failed, forcing Haniyeh to establish a government primarily composed of his team and several technocrats.

In outlining his administration's program, Haniyeh urged the United States and the European Union not to carry out their threats to cut funding to the Palestinian Authority unless Hamas renounced violence and recognized ‘Israel’ as a state..

He emphasized the Palestinians' right to continue their struggle for independence but also expressed a desire to engage in talks with international mediators to resolve the conflict.

“Our government will spare no effort to achieve a just peace in the region, end the occupation, and restore our rights,” he stated.

In 2018, the United States designated Haniyeh as a terrorist and imposed sanctions on him. The State Department cited his “close ties to Hamas’s military wing” and his support for armed struggle, including against civilians.