BEIRUT: The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) announced on Wednesday the martyrdom of its political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards in an Israeli raid in Tehran. Hamas said in a statement that it "mourns... the brother, leader, martyr, and mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, head of the movement, who was killed in a treacherous Israel raid on his residence in Tehran, after participating in the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president." According to the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, Haniyeh was targeted by a missile launched from outside Iranian airspace, and Iranian media reported that his assassination occurred at around 2:00 a.m. local time in Tehran. Martyr Haniyeh was preparing for the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president, stationed in a private residence north of Tehran.
A cowardly act
A statement issued by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and published on its website stated that "the residence of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, was bombed in Tehran, and as a result he and one of his bodyguards were martyred." The Revolutionary Guards said that "an investigation is underway." The American newspaper "The New York Times" also reported, quoting Iranian officials, that the Supreme National Security Council is holding a meeting at the headquarters of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in the presence of the commander of the Quds Force. The newspaper added that Iranian officials "were shocked after the operation."
For his part, Hamas Political Bureau member Musa Abu Marzouk said, shortly after the announcement of Haniyeh's death, that the assassination was "a cowardly act that will not pass in vain." The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reports of the assassination. Haniyeh arrived in Tehran on Tuesday to attend the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian, in the Shura Council, where he met with Pezeshkian and the Iranian Supreme Leader.
Haniyeh joined Hamas in 1987 when the movement was founded in the midst of the first Palestinian Intifada against the Israeli occupation, which lasted until 1993. He was elected head of the movement's political bureau in 2017, succeeding Khaled Meshaal, a well-known figure at the time after becoming prime minister in 2006 following Hamas's surprise victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections that same year.
Condemnation and calls for a strike
The Palestinian News Agency reported that President Mahmoud Abbas strongly condemned the assassination of Haniyeh and considered the assassination a "cowardly act and a dangerous development," calling on "the Palestinian people and its forces to unite, be patient and steadfast in the face of the Israeli occupation," at a time when Palestinian national and Islamic factions called for a general strike and mass demonstrations in protest of Haniyeh's assassination.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the assassination of Haniyeh, describing what happened in Tehran as a "despicable assassination" aimed at "extending the war from Gaza to the regional level", and showing that "the Netanyahu government has no intention of achieving peace." The Russian Foreign Ministry also considered the assassination of the head of Hamas's political bureau "an absolutely unacceptable political crime." Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said: "This is an absolutely unacceptable political murder that will lead to further escalation of tensions."
(almodon com)
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