Hamas political leader Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, plunging Middle East conflict into dangerous new phase

(CNN) — Hamas said its political leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in an overnight strike in the Iranian capital Tehran, a major development that throws the war between Israel and the militant group into an unpredictable and dangerous new phase.

Haniyeh’s death is, both strategically and symbolically, a dramatic blow to Hamas, eliminating its most public figure who headed up the group’s political operations while living overseas.

He is the second leader of an Iran-backed group reported to have been assassinated in the last day, following the killing of Hezbollah’s most senior military commander in Lebanon.

In a statement, Hamas accused Israel of targeting Haniyeh and his bodyguard in a “strike” on the building in which he was staying in Tehran, where he had participated in Tuesday’s inauguration of the new Iranian president. Hamas officials said Haniyeh’s death would “not pass in vain” and described the killing as a “grave escalation,” while Iran’s Supreme Leader said it is “our duty to ask for the blood of our dear guest.”

Iranian state run media IRNA said the strike happened at around 2 a.m. local time (6:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday), involving an “airborne guided projectile.” Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, was sworn in on Tuesday and Hamas released pictures the same day of Haniyeh meeting Iranian officials in Tehran. State-affiliated Fars said Haniyeh was staying in a residence in north Tehran.

Israel’s military said it does not respond to reports in foreign media, though senior officials have previously vowed to eliminate Hamas and its leadership in response to the group’s October 7 attack on Israel. It later said it was “conducting a situational assessment.”

In contrast, Israel did confirm it carried out a strike in Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday that killed Hezbollah commander Fu’ad Shukr, whom it blamed for a deadly attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights over the weekend. Shukr’s assassination was the most serious Israeli escalation in its confrontation with the powerful Lebanese militant group since it restarted in earnest last October.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, launched following the attacks led by the militant group on October 7, has sparked increasingly intense, near-daily ripples of conflict throughout the region. This week’s dual strikes, which came within several hours of each other, seemingly escalates that discord on multiple fronts, and will prompt renewed fears of an all-out war breaking out in the Middle East.

It may also dash any remaining hopes of a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza being reached in the near future, amid a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the enclave. Haniyeh had played a leading role representing Hamas in months-long truce negotiations, which have repeatedly appeared to reach the cusp of a breakthrough, only to collapse at the last moment.

Killing will ‘complicate’ ceasefire talks

Haniyeh is the second Hamas senior leader to be killed since the war in Gaza began. In January, the group said the deputy head of its political bureau, Saleh Al Arouri, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. Arouri was considered one of the founding members of Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

The impact of any single death in Hamas’ leadership structure is difficult to predict given the group’s vast and opaque network, and it has been able to weather the death of other key leaders before – including the slaying of its co-founders Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi, killed weeks apart in 2004.

But Haniyeh’s death leaves Hamas without its public political figurehead, and likely represents a major setback to its international operations. It would not be expected to dramatically impact its military effort, but his demise may carry symbolic weight throughout the organization.

He had taken a central role in hostage and ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, and earlier this spring said Hamas was willing to strike a deal – but added it would require Israel withdrawing from Gaza and a guarantee to cease fighting in the enclave permanently, demands that Israel has called “unacceptable.”

A source with knowledge of the negotiations told CNN on Wednesday that Haniyeh’s death could “complicate mediation talks.”

The source said Haniyeh – along with Hamas’ military leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar – was a “key decision maker.”

“He was someone who saw the value of a deal and was instrumental to getting certain breakthroughs in the talks,” the source added.

Haniyeh was in touch with mediators in Qatar and Egypt as recently as early July. Those talks now hang in the balance, despite some hope earlier this month that they were nearing a framework agreement.

“How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on other side?” Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, a mediator in the talks, posted on X on Wednesday. Qatar’s capital, Doha, also hosts the main Hamas political bureau. “Peace needs serious partners & a global stance against the disregard for human life,” Al-Thani wrote.

Dual deaths raise fears of all-out war

The killings of Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah’s Shukr in Beirut are significant in both their timing and location.

Brigadier General (Res.) Assaf Orion, senior researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies think tank, said the two deaths “increase the likelihood of an axis response, adding Iran and other proxy attacks to the menu.”

Iran has spent years investing in regional proxy groups, informally known as the “Axis of Resistance” – an anti-Israel and anti-Western alliance – supplying them with money, weapons, and training as Tehran has sought to broaden its influence across the Middle East.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Iran sees it as its duty to avenge the killing of Haniyeh because he was assassinated on Iranian soil.

“You killed our dear guest in our house and now have paved the way for your harsh punishment,” Khamenei said in a statement referring to Israel. “We consider it our duty to ask for the blood of our dear guest.”

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has brought that longstanding shadow war with Iran out into the open – and inflamed opinion globally.

The White House said it has seen the reports of Haniyeh’s death but declined to immediately comment further, according to a spokesperson. While traveling in the Philippines, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he does not think war in the Middle East is inevitable, but if Israel were to be attacked the United States would help defend it.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken later said the US was “not aware of or involved in” the killing. In an interview with CNA in Singapore, the top US diplomat reiterated that he would not speculate on the impact of Haniyeh’s assassination.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite wing of the Iranian military, said Haniyeh’s death was under investigation and results will be announced later Wednesday, according to Iranian state media.

And Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Haniyeh’s killing calling it “a cowardly act and a dangerous development,” according to the WAFA news agency on Wednesday. “His Excellency called on the masses and forces of our people to unite, be patient and steadfast in the face of the Israeli occupation,” WAFA reported.

Haniyeh will be buried in Doha on Friday, Hamas said in a statement. A funeral procession will be held in Tehran Thursday before his body is moved to Qatar, it added.

A Hamas member for decades

Haniyeh, 62, was born in a refugee camp near Gaza City, and joined Hamas in the late 1980s during the First Intifada, or uprising.

As Hamas grew in power, Haniyeh rose through the ranks – being appointed part of a secret “collective leadership” in 2004. By 2017 he had become chief of the group – and was named a “specially designated global terrorist” by the US soon after.

Some Palestinians expressed shock and sadness at his death on Wednesday. “Ismail Haniyeh is the son of Gaza. He represents my entire people,” Ahmad Al Nims told a journalist working with CNN in Deir el-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip.

Another Gazan, Abu Yasser Hassoun, said the assassination had “struck” Palestinians “like a thunderbolt.” Palestinian analyst Mustafa Ibrahim told CNN that despite some disagreements, Haniyeh held a “special place among the Palestinians.”

Over the years, Haniyeh has participated in peace talks with former US President Jimmy Carter, and met with other world leaders including the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, and Chinese diplomat Wang Kejian earlier this year.

In April, Israeli air strikes killed three of Haniyeh’s sons and four of his grandchildren, according to Hamas.

At the time, Haniyeh insisted their deaths would not affect ongoing ceasefire and hostage talks. “Whoever thinks that by targeting my kids during the negotiation talks and before a deal is agreed upon that it will force Hamas to back down on its demands, is delusional,” he said.

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CNN’s Mostafa Salem, Kareem Khadder, Sahar Akbarzai, Jessie Yeung, Mostafa Salem and Negar Mahmoodi contributed reporting.