Assassination of Ismail Haniyeh

Not to be confused with 2024 Haret Hreik airstrike.

Assassination of Ismail Haniyeh

Date	31 July 2024 (2024-07-31)
Time	c.02:00 IRST
Location	Tehran, Iran
Target	Ismail Haniyeh
Participants	Israeli Air Force (claimed by Iranian media)
Deaths	2, including Ismail Haniyeh

On 31 July 2024, Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, was assassinated in his residence in Tehran, Iran, in the early hours of the morning, after attending the inauguration ceremony for president Masoud Pezeshkian, according to Iranian and Hamas officials. An Iranian security guard was also killed. The cause of Haniyeh's death is under investigation by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Haniyeh was a prominent figure within Hamas since 1987. He previously served as the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority and as Hamas Chief in the Gaza Strip. In 2017, he was elected head of Hamas's political bureau. In 2018, the US Department of State designated him a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

Haniyeh's targeted killing would represent the highest-ranking death of a Hamas political leader since the 7 October attacks led by Hamas.

Background

Ismail Haniyeh

Haniyeh meeting with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei the day before his death

Ismail Haniyeh was widely considered the leader of Hamas. He had been a prominent member of the movement since 1987, and was elected head of Hamas's political bureau in 2017. The US Department of State designated him a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2018. In April 2024, three of his sons and four of his grandchildren were killed in an air strike in the Gaza Strip. Haniyeh had been living abroad in Qatar since leaving the Gaza Strip in 2019.

Footage from his office in the Qatari capital of Doha showed Haniyeh celebrating the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel with other Hamas officials, before they prayed and praised God. Haniyeh became the public face of the attack, publicly describing it as the start of a new era in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The last known image of Ismail Haniyeh, reported by Iranian media, was taken a day earlier at a theme park exhibition in Tehran featuring "axis of resistance" landmarks. In the photograph, he is accompanied by Ziyad al-Nakhalah, leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and a group of men posing with a model of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Killings of Hamas officials

In response to the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Israel stated it would target Hamas leaders. On 2 January 2024, Hamas deputy Saleh al-Arouri was assassinated in an airstrike in Beirut. News of Haniyeh’s death emerged just hours after Israel announced the assassination of Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah leader in Beirut.

Killing

The initial report of Ismail Haniyeh's killing emerged from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who provided limited specifics regarding the circumstances of his death, which it said occurred early on 31 July and indicated that the incident was under investigation. Haniyeh was in Iran to attend the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian the previous day. According to Hamas, he was killed by a "Zionist" airstrike on his residence. Israel declined to give any immediate comments. One of his bodyguards was also killed in the attack.

Al Mayadeen, a Lebanese outlet with close ties to Hezbollah, reported that Haniyeh was hit by a missile fired from outside Iran.

Analysis

The Jerusalem Post described Haniyeh's death as a "major setback" for Iranian-backed terror, adding that "while some are already viewing the killing of the Hamas terror leader as an escalation, the reality is that his death is a small amount of justice for the crimes of October 7."

Responses

Hamas

Hamas stated that they mourned the death of Haniyeh, who it claimed was killed in "a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran". Hamas senior official Mousa Abu Marzook said that Haniyeh's assassination was "a cowardly act that will not pass in vain". Another senior official, Sami Abu Zuhri, accused Israel of killing Haniyeh, stating that it aims to break the will of Hamas and the Palestinians.

Palestinian Authority

President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killing, calling it "a cowardly act and a serious escalation". He also called for the Palestinian people to unite.

Iran

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei held an emergency Supreme National Security Council meeting with top Iranian officials following the assassination. Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani condemned the assassination, stating that Haniyeh's "blood will never be wasted".

Israel

The Israel Defense Forces told CNN they "don't respond to reports in the foreign media". Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu praised the assassination, saying that it "makes the world a little better". The IDF had not released any new security guidelines for civilians.

International

• United States: A White House spokesperson acknowledged that they had seen reports of Haniyeh's death but declined to provide any immediate comments. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he did not think a wider war in the Middle East was inevitable, adding that the United States would help to defend Israel if it were attacked.
• Russia: Deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov condemned the assassination, calling it an "unacceptable political murder".
• Turkey: The foreign ministry condemned the "heinous" assassination and blamed it on Israel, stating that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "has no intention of achieving peace".
• Qatar, where Haniyeh regularly resided, strongly condemned the assassination describing it as a "heinous crime, a dangerous escalation, and a blatant violation of international and humanitarian law."

Islamist militant factions

• Hezbollah: offered condolences without directly attributing blame to Israel, suggesting that the incident would bolster the determination of Iran-aligned groups to confront Israel.
• Houthis (SRC): Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, leader of the Houthi Supreme Revolutionary Committee condemned the attack, calling it "a heinous terrorist crime and a flagrant violation of laws and ideal values".
• Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a statement saying the group "mourns with the Palestinian people and the Arab and Islamic nation" for the death of Haniyeh.