Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh killed in Iran

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Hamas has mentioned its political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli strike in Iran early on Wednesday, an assault that dramatically raises the danger of an additional escalation of regional hostilities.

The Palestinian militant group mentioned in an announcement that Haniyeh, who lived in exile, died after a “treacherous Zionist” assault on his residence in Tehran. Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards confirmed that Haniyeh was killed in an assault within the Iranian capital however didn’t present additional particulars.

The killing of Haniyeh got here hours after Israel mentioned it had killed a senior Hizbollah commander in an air strike on Beirut, the Lebanese capital, heightening fears that the area was sliding in direction of a full-blown struggle.

Israel didn’t instantly touch upon Haniyeh’s loss of life and sometimes neither confirms or denies assassination makes an attempt on overseas soil. Israeli officers have beforehand mentioned they might maintain all Hamas leaders accountable for the group’s October 7 assault on southern Israel.

The Hamas chief, believed to be in his 60s, had been residing in exile in Qatar however typically travelled to Iran, which helps Hamas as a part of its so-called axis of resistance. Haniyeh had attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday and met him earlier within the day.

Haniyeh, who has been Hamas’s political chief since 2017, is the highest-profile member of Hamas to be killed for the reason that militant group’s October assault and since Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza triggered a wave of regional hostilities. He was the primary interlocutor for mediators attempting to barter a ceasefire in Gaza and the discharge of Israeli hostages held within the strip.

His killing in Tehran will mark an enormous embarrassment for Iran and threat the regime retaliating towards Israel. Tensions within the area had already soared after Israel mentioned it had killed Fuad Shukr, a senior Hizbollah commander, in an air strike on a residential constructing in southern Beirut on Tuesday.

The Israel Protection Forces described Shukr as Hizbollah’s most senior navy commander and right-hand man to Hassan Nasrallah, chief of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group.

Hizbollah has not made an official remark concerning the Israeli strike, but it surely was the primary Israeli assault concentrating on one of many group’s leaders in Beirut since October 7. It got here in retaliation for Saturday’s rocket strike within the occupied Golan Heights, which killed 12 younger folks on a soccer pitch.

Israel blamed Hizbollah for that assault, the deadliest incident for civilians in Israeli-controlled territory since Israel and the Lebanese militant group began exchanging nearly each day hearth almost 10 months in the past.

Lebanon’s state-run Nationwide Information Company mentioned the Israeli strike on Beirut on Tuesday, carried out with a drone that launched three rockets, had focused the world round Hizbollah’s governing Shura Council within the densely populated Haret Hreik neighbourhood, a stronghold of the militant group.

A big explosion ripped by means of the world, with tv footage displaying a number of flooring of a residential constructing badly broken and huge plumes of smoke. A minimum of three folks have been killed — a girl and two kids — and an additional 74 folks have been injured, some critically, the Lebanese well being ministry mentioned.

Hizbollah, thought of one of many world’s most closely armed non-state actors, has beforehand warned Israel towards “any assassination on Lebanese soil towards a Lebanese, Syrian, Iranian or Palestinian”, suggesting the Israeli strike can be met with a decisive response.

“The Israeli enemy has dedicated an incredible silly act in measurement, timing and circumstances by concentrating on a wholly civilian space,” Hizbollah official Ali Ammar advised the group’s Al-Manar TV following the Israeli strike. “The Israeli enemy can pay a value for this ultimately.”

There may even be considerations about how Iran, which considers Hizbollah its most necessary proxy, will reply, significantly whether it is confirmed that Israel performed the strike in Tehran that killed Haniyeh.

The US has been main a flurry of diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions between Israel and Hizbollah for the reason that rocket assault on the Golan Heights.

UK overseas secretary David Lammy mentioned on Tuesday that the danger of additional escalation “and regional destabilisation is now extra acute than ever”.

“A widening of this battle is in no person’s curiosity,” Lammy mentioned in an announcement to parliament. “Certainly, the implications might be catastrophic. That’s the reason we proceed to press for a diplomatic answer.”