Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh spent his final hours attending the inauguration of new Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian at a ceremony in Tehran before he was ruthlessly assassinated in a suspected Israeli missile strike.
The Hamas political leader, 62, was seen flashing the peace sign and smiling as he mixed with Iranian dignitaries yesterday at the swearing-in ceremony.
He then shared a meeting with Pezeshkian – his first and only official talks with the new president before being killed – as well as Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has since vowed to avenge Haniyeh.
Video footage captured the moment Haniyeh spoke with Pezeshkian as the pair shared an embrace before the cameras in a firm signal of the enduring ties between the Islamic Republic and the Palestinian group.
Following his meetings, Haniyeh was accompanied by guards to his accommodation – an Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) residence in the capital – where he was reportedly staying alongside Palestinian Islamic Jihad Secretary General Ziyad Nakhalah, Hamas sources told Saudi outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
Sitting in an IRGC safehouse surrounded by guards in the Iranian capital, Haniyeh likely felt completely secure with no inkling of his fate.
Israel’s Defence Forces are believed to have conducted a daring overnight missile strike on the building, killing the Hamas leader as he slept in his bed – though Nakhalah is said to have escaped the blast.
Video footage captured the moment Haniyeh spoke with new Iranian presidnet Masoud Pezeshkian as the pair shared an embrace before the cameras
In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Masoud Pezeshkian, right, shakes hands with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh at the start of their meeting at the President’s office in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)
Palestinian group Hamas’ top leader Ismail Haniyeh attends Iran’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian’s swearing-in ceremony at the parliament in Tehran
Hours from death: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meets with Ismail Haniyeh (L) before Israel’s lethal strike on the Hamas leader in Tehran, Iran July 30, 2024
Haniyeh’s assassination, confirmed by both Hamas and Iranian authorities, marks the most high-profile killing since October 7 and could prove to be a tipping point in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group.
It has also sparked concerns that Hamas’ regional allies – Iran, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels – could seek to hit back against Israel, spreading yet more violence in the region.
‘Brother leader, mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement, died in a Zionist strike on his residence in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of the new (Iranian) president,’ Hamas said in a statement.
Hamas political bureau member Musa Abu Marzuk vowed: ‘The assassination of leader Ismail Haniyeh is a cowardly act and will not go unanswered.‘
The National Security Council in Iran said today that ‘the elimination of Haniyeh crossed the red lines, Israel will bear a great price’, as Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei declared it was Iran’s ‘duty to avenge’ Haniyeh because ‘he was martyred on our soil’.
The assassination of Hamas’ chief at an IRGC residence in the capital city constitutes a humiliating blow for the Islamic Republic and will likely precipitate a harsh retaliation.
Iran previously sent a barrage of missiles and drones to attack Israel earlier this year after Tel-Aviv struck the Iranian embassy in Syria in April.
Meanwhile, international observers have sounded the alarm that Hamas could pull out of months of negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza as the Palestinian death toll nears 40,000.
Haniyeh’s death makes him the latest and highest-ranking Hamas official to be killed by Israel since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks.
At least ten members of Haniyeh’s family, including his sister, were killed in an Israeli airstrike earlier this year.
The strike hit the Haniyeh family home in Al-Shati refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, last month.
That attack came just weeks after Haniyeh lost three sons and four grandchildren in an Israeli airstrike on their car nearby.
Before their deaths, Haniyeh was believed to have had 13 sons and daughters. The Qatar-based Hamas leader said at the time said that about 60 members of his family had been killed since the war with Israel broke out on October 7.
Haniyeh is seen meeting with Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian on the day of his assassination
Following his meetings, Haniyeh was accompanied by guards to his accommodation – an Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps residence in the capital
Palestinian Islamic Jihad chief Ziad al-Nakhala and Palestinian group Hamas’ top leader Ismail Haniyeh attend Iran’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian’s swearing-in ceremony at the parliament in Tehran, Iran, July 30, 2024.
Israel’s Defence Forces seized the chance to hit Haniyeh and conducted a daring missile strike on his residence in Tehran just hours after the event, killing the Hamas leader and a security guard
While Hamas’ Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar is believed to have been the mastermind of the attacks, Haniyeh, seen as a more pragmatic force in Hamas, lauded them as a humiliating blow to Israel’s aura of invincibility.
‘The Al-Aqsa flood was an earthquake that struck the heart of the Zionist entity and has made major changes at the world level,’ Haniyeh said in a speech in Iran during the funeral of late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in May.
‘We will continue the resistance against this enemy until we liberate our land, all our land,’ Haniyeh said
Israel had vowed to kill Haniyeh and other leaders of Hamas over the group’s October 7 attacks, with Mossad chief David Barnea in January declaring Israel was ‘committed to settling the score with the murderers who descended upon the Gaza envelope’.
But Haniyeh had vowed to fight Israel to the end, with a Hamas statement quoting him as saying that the Palestinian cause has ‘costs’ and ‘we are ready for these costs: martyrdom for the sake of Palestine, and for the sake of God Almighty, and for the sake of the dignity of this nation.’
Haniyeh was also under the eye of the International Criminal Court, whose chief prosecutor sought arrest warrants against him and two other Hamas leaders, Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Similar requests were issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
Haniyeh lived in self-imposed exile in Qatar since 2019, but the threats against him did not prevent him from travelling.
He was said to maintain good relations with the heads of the various Palestinian factions – including rivals to Hamas – to consolidate Hamas’ power base in Gaza, and was very much the international face of the group, travelling from Doha to Tehran and Ankara to maintain strong ties with regional allies.
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