Israel takes out Hamas political leader, Haniyeh, in Iran

• We have duty to protect Israel __Pentagon

Sopuruchi Onwuka, with agency reports

Just as all eyes are on developments in Lebanon where the world expects strong military response to killing of 12 children in northern Israel with a bomb from Hezbollah, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh got killed in an overnight strike in the Iranian capital Tehran.

Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, was sworn in on Tuesday and Hamas released pictures the same day of Haniyeh meeting Iranian officials in Tehran. State-affiliated Fars said Haniyeh was staying in a residence in north Tehran.

Iranian state run media IRNA said the strike happened at around 2 a.m. local time on Tuesday, involving an “airborne guided projectile.”

The killing of Haniyeh falls in line with avowed efforts of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) to hunt down and eliminate actors responsible for invasion of Southern Israel in October 7, raping and killing over 12000 citizens including children and elderly.

Targeted take out of most leaders of the Palestinian terrorist masterminds has since the date run in parallel with ongoing war of attrition between IDF and Palestinian terrorists in Gaza where over 20,000 people including members of the IDF have died in clashes.

Haniyeh headed up Hamas’ political operations while living overseas. He would be the second leader of an Iran-backed group reported to have been assassinated in the last day, following the killing of Hezbollah’s most senior military commander in Lebanon.

In a statement, Hamas accused Israel of targeting Haniyeh and his bodyguard in a “strike” on the building in which he was staying in Tehran, where he had participated in Tuesday’s inauguration of the new Iranian president.

Hamas officials said Haniyeh’s death would “not pass in vain” and described the killing as a “grave escalation,” while Iran’s Supreme Leader said it is “our duty to ask for the blood of our dear guest.”

Israel’s military said it was “conducting a situational assessment,”  though senior officials have previously vowed to eliminate Hamas and its leadership in response to the group’s October 7 attack on Israel.

In contrast, Israel did confirm it carried out a strike in Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday that killed Hezbollah commander Fu’ad Shukr, whom it blamed for a deadly attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights over the weekend.

Shukr’s assassination was the most serious Israeli escalation in its confrontation with the powerful Lebanese militant group since it restarted in earnest last October.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, launched following the attacks led by the militant group on October 7, has sparked increasingly intense, near-daily ripples of conflict throughout the region.

The dual strikes, which came within several hours of each other, escalate that discord on multiple fronts, and will prompt renewed fears of an all-out war breaking out in the Middle East.

It may also dash any remaining hopes of a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza being reached in the near future, amid a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

Haniyeh had played a leading role representing Hamas in months-long truce negotiations, which have repeatedly appeared to reach the cusp of a breakthrough, only to collapse at the last moment.

Haniyeh is the second Hamas senior leader to be killed since the war in Gaza began. In January, the group said the deputy head of its political bureau, Saleh Al Arouri, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut.

 Arouri was considered one of the founding members of Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

The impact of any single death in Hamas’ leadership structure is difficult to predict given the group’s vast and opaque network, and it has been able to weather the death of other key leaders before – including the slaying of its co-founders Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi, killed weeks apart in 2004.

But Haniyeh’s death leaves Hamas without its public political figurehead, and likely represents a major setback to its international operations. It would not be expected to dramatically impact its military effort, but his demise may carry symbolic weight throughout the organization.

He had taken a central role in hostage and ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, and earlier this spring said Hamas was willing to strike a deal – but added it would require Israel withdrawing from Gaza and a guarantee to cease fighting in the enclave permanently, demands that Israel has called “unacceptable.”

It remains for Israel to take care of Hamas’ military leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar to fulfill its pledge to heartbroken citizens who witnessed loved ones woken, molested and taken away on October 7.

The death of Haniyeh strips Iran of its shield for terrorists causing disruption to global merchant navy and stability in the Middle East.

Iran has spent years investing in regional proxy groups, informally known as the “Axis of Resistance” – an anti-Israel and anti-Western alliance – supplying them with money, weapons, and training as Tehran has sought to broaden its influence across the Middle East.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Iran sees it as its duty to avenge the killing of Haniyeh because he was assassinated on Iranian soil.

“You killed our dear guest in our house and now have paved the way for your harsh punishment,” Khamenei said in a statement referring to Israel. “We consider it our duty to ask for the blood of our dear guest.”

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has brought that longstanding shadow war with Iran out into the open – and inflamed opinion globally.

The White House said it has seen the reports of Haniyeh’s death but declined to immediately comment further, according to a spokesperson. While traveling in the Philippines, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he does not think war in the Middle East is inevitable, but if Israel were to be attacked the United States would help defend it.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite wing of the Iranian military, said Haniyeh’s death was under investigation and results will be announced later Wednesday, according to Iranian state media.

And Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Haniyeh’s killing calling it “a cowardly act and a dangerous development,” according to the WAFA news agency on Wednesday.

“His Excellency called on the masses and forces of our people to unite, be patient and steadfast in the face of the Israeli occupation,” WAFA reported.

Haniyeh, 62, was born in a refugee camp near Gaza City, and joined Hamas in the late 1980s during the First Intifada, or uprising.

As Hamas grew in power, Haniyeh rose through the ranks – being appointed part of a secret “collective leadership” in 2004. By 2017 he had become chief of the group – and was named a “specially designated global terrorist” by the US soon after.

Over the years, he has participated in peace talks with former US President Jimmy Carter, and met with other world leaders including the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, and Chinese diplomat Wang Kejian earlier this year.

In April, Israeli air strikes killed three of Haniyeh’s sons and four of his grandchildren, according to Hamas.

At the time, Haniyeh insisted their deaths would not affect ongoing ceasefire and hostage talks. “Whoever thinks that by targeting my kids during the negotiation talks and before a deal is agreed upon that it will force Hamas to back down on its demands, is delusional,” he said.