RIYADH: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran, the Palestinian group said.
Iranian state television announced the murder early Wednesday.
In a statement, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said Haniyeh and a security guard were attacked in their residence and the incident is currently under investigation.
Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of Hamas' Islamic Resistance, traveled to Iran for the swearing-in ceremony of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The 62-year-old Palestinian leader had previously met with Pezeshkian and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, said: “This killing of Brother Haniyeh by the Israeli occupation forces is a serious escalation aimed at breaking the will of Hamas and the will of our people and achieving false goals. We confirm that this escalation will not achieve its goals.”
“Hamas is a concept and an institution, not a person. Hamas will continue on this path regardless of the casualties, and we are convinced of victory.”
Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, leader of the Yemeni Houthis, said: “Targeting Ismail Haniyeh is a heinous terrorist crime and a blatant violation of laws and ideals.”
Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas after the group carried out a deadly raid on settlements outside the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and returning hostages to the Palestinian enclave.
Shortly thereafter, Israel launched a devastating military attack on Gaza and has since killed over 40,000 people, mostly civilians.
Both sides, with the help of the United States and regional negotiators, are trying to negotiate an agreement to release the hostages, which would include a cessation of hostilities.
The killing came amid an escalation in hostilities between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah, which was blamed for an attack on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights in which 12 children were killed over the weekend.
On Tuesday evening, Israel attacked a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon and said it had killed Fuad Shukr, the head of Hezbollah's military operations room, who Israel says was responsible for the attack in the Golan Heights, a charge the Lebanese group denies.
Israel has not yet commented on Haniya's killing, but has previously carried out assassinations of key figures in the Islamic Republic's nuclear program in Iran.
In 2021, Israel assassinated Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran's leading nuclear scientist.
But since the war in Gaza, Israel has carried out targeted attacks on key figures in Hamas and the IRGC, including Saleh Al-Arouri, a leader of the Palestinian group.
In April, Iran said its consulate in Damascus had been destroyed and a high-ranking general killed in an attack that Tehran blamed on Israel.
Shortly afterwards, Iran fired a salvo of rockets at Israel, but all of them were shot down. Israel retaliated by attacking positions in Isfahan.
Diplomacy prevented further escalation between the two sides, but Israel continued to attack Iranian allies in Syria.
The extent of Israel's military response to Hamas attacks was condemned, with the International Court of Justice acknowledging that the country may have committed genocide.
Israel is also accused of collective punishment and using hunger as a weapon in the fight against the militant group.
