Hamas ' Leader Killed

Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' top political leader, was killed in Tehran, Hamas announced earlier this morning.

In a statement by Hamas, the group “weit Haniyeh, who died as a result of a sionist sneak attack on his residence in Tehran after attending the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president”.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard confirmed the assassination, which Iranian state TV reported early in the morning, and analysts also claim Israel killed Haneyeh, according to the AP.

The Israeli army refused to comment. Israel has a history of secret murders within Iran, mainly targeting scientists working on the country's nuclear programme.

Al-Jazeera published the statement of Hamas as a whole: "In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Merciful (And do not think that those who died in the way of Allah are dead, for they are alive with their Lord."

Hamas mourns with the great Palestinian people, with the Arab nation and Islam, and with all the free people of the world for their brother, leader and martyrs, Ismail Haneyeh. The leader of the movement was killed in a sionist attack on his residence in Tehran after attending the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president. And to Allah is [our] return. And this is jihad, victory or martyrdom”.

Who was Ismail Hanyeh?

Ismail Haniyeh was a key negotiator in the Gaza ceasefire and hostage agreement, CNN analyst says. The death of Hamas' political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, is the first major Israeli “because of October 7th”, CNN political and foreign policy analyst Barack Ravid said.

Although Haniyeh is not militaryly important, he is responsible for the group's international relations and is a key co-ordinator with Egyptian and katar mediators in the Gaza hostage and ceasefire agreement, Ravid said. His murder will have an important impact on those negotiations,” he said.

The Israeli government sees Haniyeh as one of those responsible for the October 7th Hamas attack, and Israeli authorities have pledged to follow those responsible for the attack 10 months ago.

Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran, according to Hamas and Iranian media, was the long-standing political leader of the group. The Israeli military told CNN that “did not respond to reports in foreign media” after Iranian state media reported Haneyeh's death.

Who are the other leaders of Hamas?

Although Ismail Haniyeh was considered Hamas' top leader because of his role in running the Palestinian group's political operations while living in asylum in Qatar and Turkey has other high-ranking figures of Hamas.

Yahya Sinwar '%s', which Israel considers partly responsible for overseeing the October 7th raid, has disappeared from the Gaza Strip, and Israel is still working to locate it. Sinwar is the founder of Hamas' security service known as Majd, which manages internal security issues, investigates suspected Israeli agents and monitors Israeli intelligence and security officials.

Mohammed Deif, Hamas' elusive military-wing leader known as Izedine al-Qasssam ] Brigades, is another senior leader who remains on Israel's most wanted list.

Israel imprisoned him in 2000, but he escaped at the beginning of the second Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, in the early 2000s. Since then, he has left almost no trace behind. The last time Israeli security forces tried and failed to kill Deif was in 2014, during an attack on the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Army also announced Israeli Air Force warplanes killed Hezbollah's top military commander and head of his strategic unit, Fuad Shukr, also known as “Sayid Muhsan”, in the Beirut area.