Top Hamas leader killed in Iran as Middle East tensions soar

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran while attending the installment of Iran’s new president, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Hamas announced.

Haniyeh, 62, rose to become Hamas’ political chief and was one of Israel’s top targets for punishment for the October 7 massacre that killed 1,2000. No one immediately claimed responsibility for his assassination.

Iranian media reported that Haniyeh and his bodyguard were killed at a Tehran home where they was staying while attending Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian’s swear-in ceremony on Tuesday.

The assassination occurred within 24 hours of an Israeli strike that killed a top Hezbollah leader in Lebanon, the latest violence to raise worries of a broader Middle Eastern war.