July 31, 2024 - Hamas political leader killed, Israel strikes Beirut

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Temporary flight restrictions have been issued in Tehran ahead of a memorial procession on Thursday for assassinated Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

The notice?issued?by Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation restricts?flight?movements within a 2-kilometer (0.6-mile) circle radius centered at the University?of?Tehran.

Flight restrictions will be in place from 6 a.m. local time (10:30 p.m. ET Wednesday) until 10:30 a.m. local time (2:30 a.m. ET Thursday), according to the notice.

Haniyeh’s procession will be held from the University?of?Tehran towards the capital’s Azadi Square, Iran’s semi-official news agency Mehr News said.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will lead prayers Thursday morning, according to Iran’s state-run PressTV news outlet.?

Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization regularly issues Notice to Air Missions across the country, which alert pilots to issues that impact flight operations. But the one in place for Thursday specifically restricts flights in the airspace surrounding where Haniyeh’s procession is due to take place and within the same frame.

Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki speaks at an event at the U.N. headquarters in New York on November 27, 2023.

Israel will not be invited to a ceremony?in Japan?commemorating the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki city, according to Japanese news agency Kyodo News, which cited the city’s mayor Shiro Suzuki.

In June, Suzuki sent a letter to Israel calling for a ceasefire?in Gaza, leaving an invitation to the annual peace ceremony on hold due to a risk of “unexpected situations” such as protests, according to Kyodo News.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Suzuki said he had not seen any changes that would lessen those risks ahead of the August 9 ceremony promoting world peace.

Israel’s Ambassador to Japan, Gilad Cohen, described the decision as “regrettable” in a post on X, adding it “sends a wrong message to the world.”?

In contrast, Hiroshima has invited Israel to its annual ceremony on August 6, a decision that’s been controversial with activists and atomic bomb survivors’ groups that say Israel should be excluded this year as Russia and Belarus have been for the past two years over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Israel’s representative Jonathan Miller speaks at the UN Security Council on Wednesday, July 31 in New York.

Israel’s representative speaking at the UN Security Council, Jonathan Miller, urged the United Nations to “hold the Islamic Republic accountable for its crimes” related to its support of groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.?

Miller called Iran “the very engine driving the machinery of death and destruction that threatens us all.”??

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied being behind the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Feda Abdelhady Nasser, the deputy permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the UN, speaks during a UN Security Council meeting at the United Nations Headquarters on Wednesday, July 31, in New York City.

Feda Abdelhady-Nasser, the deputy permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, called for accountability in the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and condemned what she called Israel’s “criminal breach” of the territorial integrity of its neighboring countries with recent strikes on Lebanon and Iran.?

“We demand accountability for this assassination, as we have continually demanded accountability for the wanton murder and injury of over 130,000 Palestinian children, women, and men across these past 300 days of horror and hell in Gaza. And call for accountability for all of Israel’s criminal policies and practices in our territory across the decades,”?she continued.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations blamed the United States for the death of Hamas?leader Ismail Haniyeh, claiming that it could not have happened without US authorization and intelligence support.

Hamas said its political leader Ismail Haniyeh?has been killed?in an overnight strike in the Iranian capital Tehran. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied being behind Haniyeh’s assassination.

“Israel was also pursuing [a] political goal with this act, aiming to disrupt the first day of the new government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has prioritized strengthening peace and stability in the region, and enhancing cooperation and constructive engagement with international community,” Iravani added.

Earlier today, US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said that “the United States was not aware of or involved in the apparent death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh,” adding that the US has “no independent confirmation as to Hamas’s claims regarding his death.”

Ambassador Robert Wood, Alternate Representative of the U.S. for Special Political Affairs in the U.N., speaks during a U.N. Security Council meeting at the United Nations Headquarters on Wednesday, July 31, in New York City.

US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood urged the United Nations Security Council to support what he called Israel’s “right to defend itself against attacks” from groups like Hezbollah. He also called on the council to hold Iran accountable for its support of such groups, as well as its alleged violations of international law.

“Israel has a right to defend itself against attacks from Hezbollah, and other terrorists,” Wood said. “That is precisely what it did on July 30.”?

Wood said that although the US was not involved with Israel’s response on July 30 in Lebanon, “there is no doubt absolutely none that Hezbollah was responsible for this attack,?which used an Iranian weapon?and was launched from a portion of Lebanon controlled by Hezbollah.”

Wood said Iran has to comply with existing Security Council resolutions or face additional measures.?

Wood also said that “the United States was not aware of or involved in the apparent death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh,” adding that the US has “no independent confirmation as to Hamas’s claims regarding his death.”

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it is closely monitoring the rapidly developing regional situation, and expressing deep concern over the ongoing escalation and its implications for security and stability in the region, in a statement posted by the Emirati state news agency WAM on Wednesday.

Anwar Mohammed Gargash, serving as a senior diplomatic advisor to the President of the United Arab Emirates, also expressed grave concerns over the recent developments in the region.

In a statement on X, Gargash highlighted the “alarming events” unfolding from Beirut to Tehran across various fronts.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks after casting his vote for the presidential runoff election on July 5 in Tehran, Iran.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?has?issued an order for Iran to “strike Israel directly” following the killing of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran overnight, according to the New York Times.?

The Times, citing?information?it said was?provided by three Iranian officials familiar with the order, said?the directive was given during an emergency meeting for Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Wednesday.?

The?New York Times said the?officials asked not to be named?because they?did?not have the authority to speak publicly.?The report did not say how or when any strike would be carried out.

Earlier, Khamenei?said it was Iran’s “duty” to avenge Haniyeh’s death since he was killed inside Iran.?

“You killed our dear guest in our house?and now have paved the way for your harsh punishment,” he said in a statement, referring to Israel.?

CNN reviewed statements by Hamas and others, in addition to state media outlets and other social media posts, to analyze and track the Islamist militant group leader Ismail Haniyeh’s movements since October 7, 2023.

After he celebrated seeing his fighters return to the Gaza Strip with Israeli equipment in Hamas’?office in Istanbul, Turkey?on October 7, Ismail Haniyeh spent the majority of his time in Doha?as head of Hamas’ Political Bureau but took a number of trips to Tehran, Istanbul and Cairo, according to a CNN analysis.

Tehran: Haniyeh took at least four trips to Tehran – in November, March, May and July.?During all four?visits, he met with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

In May, he attended the funerals of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who were killed in a helicopter crash.?

On his final trip to Tehran, which ended with his assassination, he was attending the inauguration of the new Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian.

Cairo: He also took three known trips to Cairo in November, December and February, to lead?Hamas’ ceasefire negotiating delegation.?That negotiation process, which is still ongoing, has been shepherded by Qatar and Egypt.??

Doha: As war ravaged Gaza, Haniyeh spent the majority of his time in Hamas’ Doha offices.?While there, press statements from Hamas indicate he repeatedly met with a number of foreign dignitaries, gave speeches and held meetings.

Doha is also where Haniyeh issued his first statement after his three sons, and four grandchildren were killed in Gaza by an Israeli airstrike.?In that statement from mid-April, he said that such killings will only make Hamas more steadfast in its principles, adding that Hamas will not surrender, will not compromise, no matter how great the sacrifice.

Municipality workers pass by debris of damaged buildings in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Wednesday.

An Israeli strike in southern Beirut on Tuesday has now killed at least six people, the Lebanese state news agency NNA?reported?on Wednesday.?

The death toll includes at least two women and two children, according to previous health ministry statements.?

Hezbollah earlier confirmed the death of senior commander Fu’ad Shukr. It is unclear if NNA’s reported death toll includes Shukr.

Emergency responders are still working on lifting the rubble in the area that was hit, NNA added.

The US State Department is now warning Americans not to travel to Lebanon “due to rising tensions” between Hezbollah and Israel, raising the travel advisory for the entire country to level 4.

“Do Not Travel to Lebanon due to rising tensions between Hizballah and Israel,” the State Department said in an updated?advisory?Wednesday. “If you are in Lebanon, be prepared to shelter in place should the situation deteriorate.”

“The U.S. Embassy strongly encourages U.S. citizens who are already in Southern Lebanon, near the borders with Syria, and/or in refugee settlements to depart,” it said.?

The State Department had previously warned American against traveling to southern Lebanon, but the update to warning against travel to the entire country reflects the ratcheting up of tensions in the region.

The updated advisory comes a day after an Israeli strike on a Hezbollah commander in Beirut.

A relative of a hostage still being held in Gaza has said it is “hard to see” how the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh will help advance the deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages.?

Sharone Lifschitz, whose 83-year-old father Oded has been held in Gaza since October 7, said that she trusted statements from Qatari meditators on Wednesday warning that Haniyeh’s killing “doesn’t help” the talks between Israel and Hamas.?

She told CNN that her confidence is waning in the ability of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to broker a deal to return the hostages.?Lifschitz’s 85-year-old mother was previously released from captivity in Gaza.

Netanyahu’s priority now, according to Lifschitz, is not securing the release of the hostages but rather shoring up his own “political survival.”?She said she has “no sympathy” for Netanyahu himself, only for the hostages, their families, and the “innocent civilians caught up in this nightmare.”?

“Our loved ones are not here. We’re not hugging them. We’re not burying the dead. We are not seeing a return of some sanity to the region, and it’s hard to sit here and imagine how they must be feeling in Gaza when they see this,” she added.

White House national security spokesperson?John Kirby takes a question during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.

White House national security spokesperson?John Kirby said Wednesday that the White House “can’t confirm or verify” reports from Hamas that the group’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli strike in the Iranian capital of Tehran.?

He acknowledged Wednesday that the deaths of Haniyeh and senior Hezbollah commander Fu’ad Shukr in southern Beirut Tuesday “certainly don’t help with the temperature going down.”

US President Joe Biden was briefed on the reports, Kirby said. However, he did not offer additional details on when the president was made aware of this specific strike. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters traveling with him in Singapore that the US was “not aware of or involved in” in the killing of the Hamas leader.?

Earlier Wednesday, CNN reported the secretary of state has been working the phones in an effort keep ceasefire talks on track, speaking with?both Jordan’s Ayman Safadi and Qatar’s Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied being behind Haniyeh’s assassination. In remarks Wednesday, a defiant Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to keep fighting, saying his country has delivered “crushing blows” to its enemies.

Haniyeh was the second figure of an Iran-backed group assassinated in the past day, following the killing by Israel of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon.

Hezbollah has confirmed the death of senior commander Fu’ad Shukr.

Remember: Israel said its strike in Beirut on Tuesday killed Shukr, whom it blamed for a deadly Saturday attack in the Israeli-occupied?Golan Heights.

The leader of the Iran-backed paramilitary force, Hassan Nasrallah, will issue a statement on Thursday at the funeral of Shukr, the statement added.

“As for our political position on this heinous attack and major crime, it will be expressed by the Secretary-General of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah tomorrow at the funeral procession for the martyred leader,” the statement said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed his nation Wednesday after the deaths of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and senior Hezbollah commander Fu’ad Shukr.

Israel has delivered “crushing blows” to its enemies in the last few days, he said in a televised statement.

“Three weeks ago, we attacked the military chief of Hamas, Mohammad Deif. Two weeks ago we attacked the Houthis, in one of the farthest attacks the Air Force has carried out. Yesterday we attacked the military chief of Hezbollah, Fu’ad Shukr,” the prime minister said.

Netanyahu said Israel is facing “challenging days.”

“These are challenging days. There are threats From Beirut. We are ready for any scenario. We are prepared,” he said.

He noted his determination to keep the fight going until the aims of the war are achieved. Netanyahu referenced previous calls he has received to end the war in Gaza, saying, “I did not give in then and I am not giving in today.”

Netanyahu did not mention the death of Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied being behind Haniyeh’s assassination.

The United States State Department said the US is ready to take “every possible measure” to protect US personnel in the Middle East region, following threatening rhetoric by Iranian leaders following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh on Iranian soil.

Patel reiterated Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s comments that the US was not involved in the killing.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres speaks during a UN Security Council meeting on June 20, in New York.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said attacks in Beirut and Tehran on Tuesday and Wednesday “represent a dangerous escalation” in the region.

He said, instead, this should be a “moment in which all efforts should instead be leading to a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all Israeli hostages, a massive increase of humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza and a return to calm in Lebanon and across the Blue Line.”

“Rather than that, what we are seeing are efforts to undermine these goals,” Guterres said in a statement.

The Blue Line?is a?demarcation line?dividing Lebanon from Israel and the Golan Heights.

“It is increasingly clear, however, that restraint alone is insufficient at this extremely sensitive time. The Secretary-General urges all to vigorously work towards regional de-escalation in the interest of long-term peace and stability for all,” the statement said.

The UN chief said that he international community needs to work together to use diplomacy to de-escalate and to try to prevent “any actions that could push the entire Middle East over the edge.”

The military wing of Hamas said it had carried out “two shooting operations” near the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday in response to the killing of the group’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh.??

The Al Qassam Brigades said it was “the beginning of a swift response to the cowardly assassination of our great national leader, the martyr Ismail Haniyeh.”

“Hebron will lead the way in carrying out qualitative operations in the coming days, by the will of Allah,” it added.

The Israel Defense Forces said a civilian was in the hospital after being shot at and stabbed northeast of Hebron.

Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency service said a 50-year-old man was hospitalized in serious condition after being stabbed on Route 60 near Kiryat Arba, a settlement on the outskirts of Hebron. It was unclear if the MDA was referring to the incident reported by the IDF.?

The IDF and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) also later said they had apprehended a suspect in connection to the attack, following an “hours-long operation.” The suspect has been “transferred to the ISA for further questioning,” according to the IDF.?

Israel will pay a “heavy price” for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh on Iranian soil, senior Iranian diplomat Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X on Wednesday.

Araghchi is expected to become the next foreign minister under the new Pezeshkian administration, according to state media IRNA.

Israel has not claimed responsibility?for Haniyeh’s killing.

The body of Hezbollah’s most senior military official, Fu’ad Shukr, was found under rubble in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Lebanese security source confirmed to CNN on Wednesday.

Israel?on Tuesday said it killed Shukr in a?drone strike?in a populous neighborhood that is also the Iran-backed group’s stronghold.

Israel said it served as?retaliation for a deadly strike?in the Israeli-occupied town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights on Saturday, which Israel blamed on Hezbollah. Hezbollah denied the claim.

Undated photos of Al Jazeera staffers Ismail Al-Ghoul and Rami Al-Rifi.

Palestinian journalists drew attention to the dangers for local reporters documenting the horrors of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, after two Al Jazeera staffers — Ismail Al-Ghoul and Rami Al-Rifi — were killed by a reported Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza on Wednesday.

“Ismail was renowned for his professionalism and dedication, bringing the world’s attention to the suffering and atrocities committed in Gaza. … Without Ismail, the world would not have seen the devastating images of these massacres,” the network’s managing editor, Mohamed Moawad, said on X.

Another journalist, Ahmad Al-Alouh, who said he spoke with Al-Ghoul every day, wrote: “Please bring back my beloved.. Why is the world like this.. What is happening to us?”

Hind Khoudary, a freelance reporter working for Al Jazeera, lamented the “heartbreaking” news of Al-Ghoul and Al-Rifi’s deaths.

“We do everything (to stay safe). We wear our press jackets. We wear our helmets. We try not to go anywhere that is not safe. We try to go to places where we can maintain our security. … It’s a great loss for journalists here in Gaza, especially Al Jazeera’s team, losing such a colleague,” she said.

The world’s largest union for journalists, the International Federation of Journalists, posted on X:

CNN has provided details of the strike to the Israeli military and is awaiting comment.

Undated photo of Ismail al-Ghoul, correspondent for the Al Jazeera network.

Al Jazeera journalist Ismail Al-Ghoul was wearing a press flak vest when he was killed in a reported Israeli attack in northern Gaza, according to his colleague.

Anas Al-Sharif said on Al Jazeera that a “direct strike” had killed Al-Ghoul along with his cameraman Rami Al-Rifi in Al-Shati refugee camp, where they were reporting near the family home of slain Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

CNN video showed Al-Sharif and another Al Jazeera colleague, Yousef Al Saudi, holding Al-Ghoul’s flak jacket.

Al-Sharif said: “This shield did not protect colleague Ismail, nor did it protect any of our colleagues. As you can see how this shield has become — it is covered in blood and Ismail’s body parts.”

Another journalist who spent much of the day with the Al Jazeera crew, Ayman Abed, said he saw one missile hit their vehicle. Video from the scene shows the burnt-out shell of a small car that appears to have been targeted from above.

CNN has provided details of the strike to the Israel Defense Forces and is awaiting comment.

Deadliest period for journalists: The Israeli military campaign in Gaza has been the deadliest period for journalists since 1992. As of July 31, at least 111 journalists and media workers have been killed since October —109 of whom were Palestinian — according to the?Committee to Protect Journalists?(CPJ).

CPJ has asked Israel to explain the deaths of the two Al Jazeera journalists in what it said “appears to be a direct strike.”

This post has been updated with statements from Al Jazeera journalists and the CPJ.

CNN’s Jon Passantino and Khader Al-Za’anoun of WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency, contributed reporting.

Palestinians cycle past destroyed buildings leveled in a previous Israeli military bombardment of Beit Lahia, Gaza, on Monday, July 29.

The assassination of the Hamas’ political leader has plunged the Middle East into fresh crisis and dented already slim hopes of an end to the war between Israel and the militant group that rules Gaza anytime soon.

Hamas on Wednesday said Israel killed its political leader,?Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, Iran, hours after Israel claimed a strike on the Lebanese capital Beirut that killed a senior Hezbollah commander who it blamed for a deadly attack in the?Israeli-occupied Golan Heights?over the weekend. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for Haniyeh’s killing.

Future of ceasefire talks unclear: Months of negotiations on a deal to end the war in Gaza and free the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas had already hit repeated roadblocks before Haniyeh, a key player in the talks, was killed.

As recently as early July, Haniyeh was in touch with mediators in Qatar and Egypt to discuss ideas on ending the war, sparking some hope that the two sides could be on the brink of a framework agreement. All of that could now be thrown up in the air by his death.

A source with knowledge of the negotiations told CNN Wednesday that Haniyeh’s assassination could “complicate mediation talks.” The source said Haniyeh was a “key decision-maker,” along with Hamas’ military leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

Read more about the implications his assassination could have.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is pictured during an official visit to Singapore on July 31.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Qatari and Jordanian officials on Wednesday following the death of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Blinken had calls with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi, according to the US State Department. He stressed the importance of the ongoing ceasefire talks — which some fear have now been derailed by the killing of Haniyeh, who was a Hamas negotiator.

Safadi strongly condemned Haniyeh’s assassination, calling it “a heinous crime and a flagrant violation of international law.”

Qatar called the killing of the Haniyeh a “heinous crime” and a “dangerous escalation.”

In a?post?on X Wednesday, Al Thani wrote, “political assassinations & continued targeting of civilians in Gaza while talks continue leads us to ask, how can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?”

Haniyeh was based in Qatar, which hosts Hamas’ political bureau.

Blinken has said the US was?“not aware of or involved in” the killing of Haniyeh and said he would not speculate on the impact of the assassination.

The headline and post have been updated with more details on Blinken’s outreach on Wednesday.

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, left, meets with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, on July 30, in Tehran, Iran.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh had a full schedule of public appearances and meetings before he was assassinated, according to a CNN review of Iranian state media press reports.?

The Israel Defense Forces chief of staff said Israel’s aim is to remove Hezbollah from positions close to the border in southern Lebanon.

While speaking at a brigade-level exercise on the northern border on Monday, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the the IDF had “an opportunity to eliminate Mohsen,” also known as?Fu’ad Shukr, the deputy leader of Hezbollah who was killed in Beirut on Tuesday. Halevi said he was the most senior military figure in Hezbollah and very close to the Iran-backed group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah.?

At least 12 people, including children, were killed when a rocket hit Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights Saturday, Israeli officials said. Hezbollah has admitted targeting other parts of the Golan Heights but “firmly denies” it was behind the deadly strike.

“We will also not let the situation return to having (Hezbollah) present on the border, 200 meters from Metula or from Shtula or from Rosh HaNikra,” Halevi said, listing different town names.

Earlier Wednesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote to a number of international counterparts, urging the implementation of a 2006 United Nations resolution that ended the last war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Ismail Al-Ghoul, a correspondent for the Al Jazeera network.

A correspondent for Al Jazeera – Ismail Al-Ghoul – and a colleague were killed in a reported Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza where they were reporting live from a location close to the destroyed family home of the late Hamas’ political chief, Ismail Haniyeh.

Al-Ghoul, 27, and his cameraman Rami Al-Rifi, who both lived in the besieged enclave, were killed in the al Shati refugee camp, according to the Qatar-based network.

Both journalists had been reporting live for much of the day from a location close to the former home of Haniyeh, who was assassinated in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

CNN is seeking comment from the Israeli military.

A journalist working for CNN in Gaza said the crew had been targeted in an Israeli airstrike.

Khader Al-Za’anoun of WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency, contributed reporting.

Hamas spokesperson and deputy head Khalil al-Hayya speaks during an interview in Istanbul, Turkey, on April 24.

Hamas spokesperson and deputy head Khalil al-Hayya said Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was hit directly by a rocket in the room where he was staying in Tehran, and that?Hamas’ military wing the Al Qassam Brigades would not let the killing “go unaccounted for.”

Earlier in the day, Iranian state media reported that Haniyeh was killed by an “airborne guided projectile,” though it was unclear what form that took.

Speaking at a press conference in the Iranian capital, al-Hayya said Israel would “pay the price for heinous crime” of assassinating Haniyeh.

Israel has not claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s death.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called senior Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal to offer his “deepest condolences” on Wednesday, after the assassination of the group’s political chief.

Abbas spoke to Meshaal after Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA. Meshaal is the head of Hamas’ office in the diaspora, and one of the group’s founders.

Some context: The PA, which is dominated by the Fatah political party, held administrative control over Gaza until 2007, after Hamas won the 2006 legislative elections in the occupied territories and expelled it from the enclave. Since then, Hamas had ruled Gaza with the PA governing parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz speaks during a press in Budapest, Hungary, on June 17.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that his country is not interested in an “all-out war” and urged the implementation of a 2006 United Nations resolution that ended the last war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group based in Lebanon.

“Israel is not interested in an all-out war, but the only way to prevent it is the immediate implementation of Resolution 1701,” the minister said in a letter sent to dozens of his international counterparts.

Some background: The statement didn’t reference the escalating tension in the region following the assassination of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which Iran blamed on Israel, or the killing of a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut, which Israel claimed. Iran’s supreme leader has vowed to avenge the death of Haniyeh.

Tehran has leveled blame against Washington for the killing of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh, criticizing the US as a staunch ally of Israel.

Iran’s foreign ministry pointedly condemned the White House “as a supporter and accomplice of the Zionist regime in the continuation of the occupation and genocide of the Palestinians, in committing this heinous act of terrorism.”

Iran has a right to respond to what it called an “aggressive action” against “sovereignty,” the ministry said on Telegram, calling on international actors that support the rights of the Palestinian people to condemn the assassination.

US-Israel relations: The US has remained a key ally of Israel since it launched its offensive in Gaza after the Hamas-led October 7 attacks. More recently, Washington voiced concern over the colossal civilian toll wrought by Israel’s interminable bombing campaign in the Palestinian strip — while continuing to dole out billions of dollars worth of military aid.

Responding to Haniyeh’s killing in Iran on Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was “not aware of or involved.” Israel has not commented on the strike, but previously vowed to eliminate Hamas in the wake of October 7.

Senior Iranian diplomats say their country will respond to the killing of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

“The response to an assassination will indeed be special operations — harder and intended to instill deep regret in the perpetrator,” Iran’s UN Mission in New York posted on X.

The country’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, doubled down on a message from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, saying a response is “definitely coming.”

Speaking in Beirut, Amani stressed that Tehran was not trying to “expand the perimeter” of Israel’s war in Gaza, but said: “Iran in return will not allow this region to be prey to the joint U.S. and Israeli administrations.”

Historic tensions: A regional powerhouse, Iran has long been accused of arming and training an axis of militias in the Middle East – including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen – in an effort to broaden its influence across the Middle East.

Fighting in Gaza has brought a longstanding shadow war between Israel and Iran into the open. Though the Israeli military declined to comment on Haniyeh’s killing, it launched a relentless bombing campaign on Gaza, with the stated aim of eliminating Hamas, after the October 7 attacks on Israel.

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, center, attends a funeral prayer for the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran, Iran, on May 22.

Ismail Haniyeh’s fateful trip to Iran this week was not his first to the country since his group launched its deadly assault in Israel on October 7 of last year.?

The political leader of Hamas, which is supported by the Iranian regime, had made several other visits to Tehran since the war with Israel began in Gaza, including one in May where he delivered a eulogy at the funeral of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash earlier that month.

In the hours before he was assassinated overnight, Haniyeh attended an inauguration ceremony on Tuesday for Raisi’s replacement, the newly sworn-in President Masoud Pezehkian, and met Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.?

He gave his last known doorstep interview to a reporter in Iran while visiting the “Land of Civilizations,” a newly inaugurated exhibition held in the iconic Milad Tower of Tehran.?

Other previous trips by Haniyeh to Iran include one on March 26, when he met then- Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian — who was also killed in the May helicopter crash — as negotiations on a ceasefire in Gaza were ongoing, and another visit that was revealed in November 2023 and reportedly included a meeting with Khamenei, roughly a month after Hamas’ October 7 attack.??

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin greets Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as he arrives at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on June 25.

Israel’s Defense Ministry?issued a readout of?Yoav Gallant’s?call with US?Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Wednesday, in which the minister briefed Austin on Israel’s “precise operation” in Beirut.?

The readout said that Gallant described the operation as a “direct response” to Hezbollah’s attack on Majdal Shams that killed 12 children.

Gallant also reiterated Israel’s commitment to defending itself, but said it “did not seek war.”

Some background: Israel said its strike in Beirut on Tuesday killed Hezbollah’s most senior?military?commander, who it blamed for the deadly attack in the Israeli-occupied?Golan Heights.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said “Israeli Air Force fighter jets eliminated the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s most senior military commander” Fu’ad Shukr. At least three people were killed in the strike and 74 people were injured, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Ahmad Al Nims, a displaced Palestinian, is shown in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, on July 31. He said the late Hamas political leader Haniyeh is “the son of Gaza.”

Palestinians in Gaza have expressed grief and anger over the assassination of Hamas’ political leader?Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.?

Abu Yasser Hassoun told CNN the news of Haniyeh’s killing “was like hell for the Palestinian people.”

Gazan Abu Yasser Hassoun said the assassination had struck “like a thunderbolt” and described Haniyeh as a leader who united Palestinians.

Saleh Al Shunnar said he “cried” and “felt sad” for Haniyeh, following his assassination.

Saleh Al Shunnar, who has been displaced from Jabalya in northern Gaza, said through tears: “We do not say that he is from Hamas or Fatah, but rather that he is a Palestinian leader, the son of a Palestinian father and a Palestinian mother. It was heart-breaking news for all of us in the Gaza Strip, throughout Palestine, outside Palestine, and in the diaspora.”

Amjad Al Shawwa, a political analyst, described Haniyeh’s assassination a “crime.”

Political analyst Amjad Al Shawwa called the assassination of “one of the most important Palestinian leaders” a “crime in every sense of the word.”?

“It is clear that the occupation has a clear intention not to reach any calm, a ceasefire, or to stop the aggression,” Al Shawwa said.?

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied being behind the assassination.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh speaks at a press conference on March 26.

As the Middle East reels from the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, leaders have begun weighing in — with some condemning the killing and voicing alarm that it could escalate the regional conflict.

Here’s what they have said:

This post has been updated with more reactions to the death of Haniyeh.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is pictured during a meeting with US officials at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on June 25.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that Israel did not seek war but was “preparing for all possibilities.”

In remarks published by his office, Gallant is said to have met with troops operating Israel’s Arrow air defense system and told them:

Israel has claimed responsibility for an attack on Beirut that killed Hezbollah’s military leader Fu’ad Shukr but has neither claimed nor denied the assassination of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Team Israel is seen traveling down the River Seine during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris, France, on July 26.

Measures to protect Israeli athletes competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics are “relevant all the time,” a source told CNN when asked if the delegation’s security detail will ramp up amid increased tensions in the Middle East.

On Wednesday, Hamas said its political leader Ismail Haniyeh?was killed?in an Israeli strike in the Iranian capital of Tehran, throwing the region into an unpredictable and dangerous new phase.

Israeli news website Ynet had reported that the Israel Security Agency (ISA), also known as Shin Bet, would bolster the delegation’s security. The newspaper did not cite its sources.?

Gaza war casts shadow: Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza has cast a shadow over this year’s Games, where 10,500 athletes from more than 200 National Olympic Committees and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team are competing, according to the official website.

Earlier this year, Palestinian athletes participating in the Games told CNN they are haunted by the reality of war at home, where Israeli attacks have killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians.

Israel will face a “harsh” and “painful response” from Iran for the assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement.?

“Undoubtedly, this crime of the Zionist regime will face a harsh and painful response from the powerful and great front of the Resistance, especially Islamic Iran,” the statement said.?

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it does not respond to reports in foreign media.

The IRGC said Haniyeh was one of 110 foreign dignitaries invited by Iran to participate in the presidential inauguration ceremony of Masoud Pezeshkian.?

Isaeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “pushing the region and the world to the brink of catastrophe,” former Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif said Wednesday following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Zarif, a key negotiator of Iran’s nuclear deal with western powers and a close ally of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, warned that the killing would only strengthen the nation’s resolve to support the Palestinians.

“The cowardly assassination of our guest will only strengthen our resolve to defend our territory and support the Palestinian people’s fight for their freedom,” he said, adding that it was “high time for the west to stop shielding Netanyahu’s madness and join the world in ending his suicidal chaos.”

A view shows a damaged building the day after an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, on July 31.

The death toll from an Israeli strike on southern Beirut that killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fu’ad Shukr on Tuesday has risen to at least four.

Shukr is the most senior figure from the Iran-backed group to be killed in years and came just hours before the assassination of Hamas political leader?Ismail Haniyeh

Another woman was announced dead on Wednesday by the Lebanese Ministry of Health in a?statement. Earlier, the ministry said two children and a woman were killed in the blast.

At least 74 others were injured in the strike.

Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated while visiting Iran’s capital Tehran, just hours after Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fu’ad Shukr, was killed by an Israeli strike in Beirut, throwing the region into a new round of turmoil.

While Israel claimed the strike on Shukr, it hasn’t done so for the Iran attack, with the military saying it “doesn’t respond to reports in the foreign media.”

There’s a lot we don’t yet know about this attack, including how it happened and how it happed on Iranian soil.

This is what we do know know so far:

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during an official visit to Singapore, on Wednesday, July 31.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday the United States was “not aware of or involved in” the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

In an interview with CNA Singapore, Blinken reiterated his commitment to a ceasefire in Gaza and said he would not speculate on the impact of Haniyeh’s assassination, comments he first made earlier in the day at a news conference in Singapore, where he is on an official visit.

Blinken also said he would not speculate about whether this killing could cause further escalation: “because we simply don’t know.”

The headline and post have been updated with more comments from Blinken in Singapore.

Ismail Haniyeh will be buried in the Qatari capital of Doha on Friday after the Hamas political leader was assassinated in Iran, the militant group said in a statement.

A funeral procession will be held in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Thursday, where state-affiliated media reported three days of public mourning.

Haniyeh’s body will then be moved to Doha. Members of the public, Arab and Islamic leaders will attend the funeral, according to Hamas.

Ties to Qatar: In recent years Haniyeh lived in exile in Doha, which hosts the main Hamas political bureau. His assassination has sparked concern over the progress of negotiations, of which he was a key player.

Qatari officials had been coordinating with Washington and Egypt to secure a deal for the release of hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza.

The post was updated with more details on Haniyeh’s connection to Doha.

Hamas political leader Ismael Haniyeh arrives to participate in the swearing in ceremony for the new Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian, in Tehran, Iran, on July 30.

There are many questions we still have about Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination, including how the Hamas political leader was killed and how this happened on Iranian soil.

For now, we know that Iranian state media says he was killed while visiting Tehran for the inauguration of Iran’s president. Haniyeh was staying at a residence for veterans in a district in north Tehran, but the exact location is not known.

Iranian reports say he was killed by an “airborne guided projectile” – but we don’t yet know what that means. Was it a?missile fired from a jet or a drone loaded with an explosive?

Unusually, no images of the aftermath of the attack have emerged, either in Iranian state media or on social channels, which would help us answer that question.

Our reporters are reviewing all available information and will bring you the latest as soon as they have it.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pictured in Jerusalem on July 16.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a security assessment in Tel-Aviv later today, an Israeli official told CNN.?

The security cabinet will meet after the assessment, the official said.?

Some context: Hamas has accused Israel of carrying out the strike in Tehran that killed its political leader Ismail Haniyeh. Israel’s military said it “doesn’t respond to reports in the foreign media.”

Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani speaks during a press conference in Doha on June 12.

“How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on other side?”

That was the response from Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, a mediator on the Israel-Hamas talks, to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh on X.?

Qatar’s capital Doha hosts the main Hamas political bureau.?

The assassination of Hamas’ political chief could “complicate mediation talks” aimed at negotiating a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza, a source with knowledge of the talks told CNN.?

The source said that Ismail Haniyeh was “instrumental” in achieving certain breakthroughs and, along with Hamas’ military leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, was a “key decision maker.”

Impact on ceasefire talks: Haniyeh had shown a willingness to reach an agreement if Israel withdrew from Gaza. Key mediators have so far been unable to succeed in talks for the release of hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israeli attacks have ravaged the besieged enclave and killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, meets with Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran, on July 30.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Iran sees it as its duty to avenge the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh because he was assassinated on Iranian soil.?

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, left, meets with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, on July 30, in Tehran, Iran. Haniyeh was visiting Tehran this week for Pezeshkian's inauguration.

New Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has paid tribute to Ismail Haniyeh, whom he called the “brave leader of the Palestinian resistance,” after the Hamas political bureau chief was assassinated.

He said Iran would defend its territorial integrity and make the culprits regret their attack.

The Palestinian militant group said Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli “strike” on his residence.

The Israeli military declined to comment, though senior officials launched a relentless bombing campaign on Gaza, with the stated aim of eliminating Hamas after October 7.

Before he was killed, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend President Masoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration, as well as to hold talks with Iranian leaders.

Iran has been a key supporter of Hamas.

Haniyeh, a key interlocutor in the Gaza ceasefire and hostage negotiations, was in parliament on Tuesday for the formal swearing-in.

The head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite wing of the Iranian military, and Iran’s former President Hassan Rouhani were among the attendees.

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, surrounded by lawmakers, flashes a victory sign during the swearing-in ceremony for the new Iranian president at the parliament in Tehran on July 30.

Iran's newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian attends his swearing-in ceremony on July 30 in Tehran. The ceremony held in the parliament was attended by representatives from 86 countries as well as senior military and civilian officials of Iran.?

A general view shows the Iranian parliament during the swearing-in ceremony of newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian on July 30.

Head of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps General Hossein Salami arrives for the inauguration of the new Iranian president on July 30.

Former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani attends the swearing-in of Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian on July 30.

Iranian lawmakers and foreign officials attend the swearing-in ceremony of newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian on July 30.

The assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh may have “totally changed the dynamic” between Iran-backed proxies and Israel, said Firas Maksad,?Senior Fellow and Senior Director for Strategic Outreach at the Middle East Institute.

The consecutive deaths of leaders from Iran-backed groups has been unprecedented and is a potential notch closer to a?region-wide conflict, he added.

Israel has also demonstrated in the past 24 hours that it has an “extraordinary capability” in terms of “actionable intelligence” to assassinate senior figures of Iranian proxies, and present a tactical victory for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Maksad said.

In response to reporters’ question on Haniyeh’s killing, Israel’s military said it does not respond to reports in foreign media, though senior officials have previously vowed to eliminate Hamas in response to the group’s October 7 attack.

Tensions in the Middle East skyrocketed this week after two key Hamas and Hezbollah leaders were killed in targeted strikes, stoking fears of an escalation in the war in Gaza.

Hamas said Israel killed its Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in the Iranian capital Iran on Wednesday, while Israel on Tuesday claimed an attack in the Lebanese capital Beirut, who it blamed for an attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday that killed 12 Arab Druze children.

Experts say the assassinations cast an ominous shadow on hopes of a ceasefire hostage deal and stifle any progress toward de-escalation between Israel and its Iran-backed enemies.

Gershon Baskin, a former Israeli hostage negotiator who once acted as a channel to Hamas, told CNN that negotiations were already deadlocked before Haniyeh’s assassination, and that the new developments only put the lives of hostages still held captive in danger.

The strikes bring fears of an all-out regional war to new heights, especially as Iran is now pressured to respond to an attack that took place on its own soil, experts said.

When Israel killed top Iranian military commanders in an airstrike on the country’s consulate building in Damascus, Syria, Iran responded with more than 300 projectiles fired directly at the Jewish state.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite wing of the Iranian military, will publish a second statement on the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, according to state media.

“The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will publish its second statement about the assassination of Martyr Ismail Haniyeh in an hour,” the semi-official Tasnim news agency?reported.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh claps as newly-elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks at the Iranian parliament, in Tehran, Iran, on July 30.

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in the Iranian capital Tehran, in an assassination that could further destabilize the Middle East and jeopardize Israel-Hamas negotiations.

Here’s the latest:

This post has been updated with an updated translation of Hamas’ initial statement on Haniyeh’s killing.

More details are emerging about where, when and how Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed.

Haniyeh was attacked in Tehran using an “airborne guided projectile,” state-run news agency IRNA said.?The attack occurred around 2 a.m. local time.

Haniyeh was in Iran for the Iranian president’s inauguration, and was staying in one of the residences for veterans in north Tehran, state-affiliated news outlet Fars said.?

IRNA said further investigations were underway to determine the details of the operation and the position from which the projectile was fired.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa has condemned the assassination of Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA.

The prime minister also “called on the factions, forces and the sons of our Palestinian people to further national unity and steadfastness in the face of the occupation and its crimes,” WAFA reported.

Mustafa had been appointed in April to replace former Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, who resigned in February along with his government amid pressure to reform as the war in Gaza raged on.

The precise details of what happened at around 1.45 a.m. in Tehran, which led to the death of Ismail Haniyeh, will dictate what comes next. Or more precisely the details that Tehran chooses to present as its narrative.

It is clearly a grave violation of their sovereignty and the supposed security bubble of the Iranian capital, however the attack occurred. Haniyeh was their guest, and their role as a regional power is eroded if they are unable to guarantee the simple safety of visiting allies.

But Iran has stomached comparable violations in the past, more specifically when non-Iranians were killed. The death of their leading nuclear scientist, Iranian Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was met with limited immediate wrath in 2020.

The truth is Iran’s options are limited and none of them are great.

It is clear Tehran is reluctant to launch its most ferocious proxy, Hezbollah, into a full-scale war with Israel from Lebanon. Putting aside the huge humanitarian horror such a conflict would cause for Lebanese and Israelis alike, Hezbollah remain a powerful card that Tehran probably gets to play just once. And so they must choose when they do so carefully.

Iran has also tried an all-out attack on Israel before, in April, after senior Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders were killed in an Israeli strike on Damascus, Syria. In short, the 300 drones and missiles fired – unprecedentedly from Iran directly at Israel – just didn’t get through. It failed.?Their response will both define their role as a regional power, but also risk that slipping. A stealthy, asymmetric strike, weeks from now, may not fix the damage done to their position.

Yet still, red lines were again crossed, and another rung on the ladder of escalation?has been?climbed.

The raging question of the next 24 hours, as Iran fashions its narrative of how this major humiliation came to be, is what remaining steps are there on this well-trodden ladder, and what is at its peak?

Read more of Nick Paton Walsh’s analysis.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov in Moscow in 2023.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov called the killing of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh “an absolutely unacceptable political assassination,” according to Russian state media RIA Novosti.

Moscow has previously criticized Israel’s actions in Gaza and called for a ceasefire.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin takes questions from reporters on July 31.

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 US would help defend it.

Austin said he is aware of reports that Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran, but he had no further comment.

Austin said he has not spoken to his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, in the last 24 hours.

Asked about growing tensions in the Middle East, Austin said “what we’ve seen along the border, the northern border with Israel, overtime that’s been a concern of ours.”

Any Hamas retaliation to Ismail Haniyeh’s killing is unlikely to come from Gaza, analyst Brigadier General (Res.) Assaf Orion told CNN.

“Hamas may struggle to produce an outstanding retaliation from Gaza, so perhaps they will try to attack in the (West Bank) or from it into Israel,” said the senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies?of Tel Aviv University, and director of the Diane & Guilford Glazer Israel-China Policy Center.

He said that the targeting of two leaders in two days from Iran-backed regional proxies meant Israel could face a wider regional response.

Israel said yesterday its strike in Beirut killed Hezbollah’s most senior?military?commander, Fu’ad Shukr, who it blamed for a rocket attack in the Israeli-occupied?Golan Heights that killed 12 children.

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri in 2021.

We have more reactions coming in from Hamas over the killing of its political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

He said Hamas would continue on its current path, adding: “We are confident of victory.”

In separate quotes run by Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, Abu Zuhri said a “moment of truth has come”.

Abu Zuhri also called on “the rulers of the nation and its youth to rise up with all their efforts and strength in every field and every location,” adding that “this assassination will not achieve the goals of the occupation and will not push Hamas to surrender.”

Palestinians walk through a deserted commercial area in Nablus, West Bank, during a general strike on July 31, following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran overnight.

Palestinian factions in the Israeli-occupied West Bank have called for a general strike and protests on Wednesday over the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

In a separate statement, the student movement at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank issued a similar call.

Haniyeh was?killed in the Iranian capital Tehran, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday, citing the?Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,?an elite wing of the Iranian military. Hamas said?Haniyeh?was killed in an Israeli strike on his residence.

The killing comes at a fraught time for the Middle East, with escalating confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah threatening to expand into a wider regional war, and as Hamas battles Israel’s military in Gaza.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh arrives at the Iranian parliament to attend the swearing-in ceremony of newly-elected President Masoud Pezeshkian, in Tehran, Iran, on July 30.

Ismail Haniyeh has been part of Hamas for decades, in recent years running the militant group’s political operations from exile, and emerging as one of its most visible leaders during the war with Israel in Gaza.

As Hamas’s political leader, he was a key interlocutor with international mediators during stalled hostage and ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, following the group’s October 7 attack on Israel.

Discussions with mediators: He?had shown willingness to reach an agreement if Israel withdrew from Gaza – saying in May that the group was “still keen” to strike a deal with mediators, but that any proposal would have to cease fighting in the enclave permanently.

At the time, he said their demands aimed to stop “the aggression against our people, which is a fundamental and logical position that lays the foundation for a more stable future.”

In response, Israel has called those demands “unacceptable,” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to keep fighting until Hamas was destroyed – leaving negotiations at a standstill as both sides traded blame.

As recently?as early July, Haniyeh was in touch with mediators in Qatar and Egypt to discuss ideas on ending the war, sparking some hope that the two sides could be on the brink of a framework agreement.

Read our profile on Haniyeh here.

Ismail Haniyeh’s death sends “a very strong message,” said?Matthew Levitt, Fromer-Wexler Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Hamas said Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli strike on his residence in Tehran.

The death of Hamas political leader Haniyeh came just a day after?Israel said its strike in Beirut killed Hezbollah’s most senior military commander, Fu’ad Shukr. A senior Lebanese government official told CNN Shukr survived.?

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.

Levitt added that it has been “a very bad day for the Islamic resistance and its axis” as Israel ramps up its attacks on Iran-backed proxy group leaders.

Some context: The reported deaths of the two leaders of different Iran-backed militant groups are stoking already high fears that escalating tensions could spiral into all-out conflict in the region.

This post has been updated with an updated translation of Hamas’ initial statement on Haniyeh’s killing.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attends the World Economic Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on April 28

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, according to the WAFA news agency.

The Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Hussein Al-Sheikh, also denounced the killing in a separate statement.

The killing of Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, “will not pass in vain,” said Musa Abu Marzouk, a member of the group’s political bureau.

“The assassination of leader Ismail Haniyeh was a cowardly act and will not pass in vain,” Marzouk said.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, center, sits prior to the start of the swearing-in ceremony of newly-elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the Iranian parliament, in Tehran, Iran, on July 30.

The death of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh is the “first most significant Israeli operation since October 7,” said CNN Political and Foreign Policy Analyst Barak Ravid.

The Israeli military told CNN they “don’t respond to reports in the foreign media,” after Iranian state media reported Haniyeh’s death.

While Haniyeh is not militarily significant, he is in charge of the group’s international relations and is the key interlocutor with Egyptian and Qatari mediators on the hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza, Ravid said.

The Israeli government sees Haniyeh as one of those responsible for Hamas’ October 7 attack, according to Ravid, and Israeli authorities have vowed to hunt down those responsible for the attack 10 months ago that has now embroiled the Middle East in conflict.

Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran, according to Hamas and Iranian media, was a longtime political leader of the militant group.

A Hamas official said the group is “ready to pay various prices,” after its political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in Tehran.?

There have been popular calls for Palestinians to launch a general strike after news of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh’s death, Hamas-linked Al-Aqsa TV reported.

In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Masoud Pezeshkian, right, meets Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, at the President's office in Tehran, Iran, on July 30

The killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh is under investigation and the results will be announced later today, Iranian state media reported, citing a statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The IRGC, an elite wing of the Iranian military, offered condolences to “the heroic Palestinian nation, the Muslim Ummah (community), fighters of the resistance front and the noble Iranian nation over the martyrdom of the senior Palestinian resistance leader,” state media reported.

Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

The White House has seen the reports of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh being killed in Iran, a spokesperson said, but declined to immediately comment further.

The Israeli military told CNN they “don’t respond to reports in the foreign media,” after Iranian state media reported that Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran.

In a separate statement, Hamas said Haniyeh was killed in what it said was an Israeli raid on his residence in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of the Iranian president.

Haniyeh was a longtime senior leader in the group, after first joining Hamas in the late 1980s and climbing the ranks in the following decades.

In this 2014 file photo, senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh waves to the crowd during a rally ahead of the 27th anniversary of Hamas' founding, in Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip.

Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran, according to Hamas and Iranian media, was a longtime political leader of the militant group.

The 62-year-old 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, then being named the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority in 2006.

By 2017 he had become chief of the group — and was named a “specially designated global terrorist” by the United States soon after.

Over the years, he 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 airstrikes killed three of Haniyeh’s sons and four of his grandchildren, according to Hamas.

At the time, Haniyeh – who was based in Qatar – insisted their deaths would not affect ongoing ceasefire and hostage talks.

Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Palestinian militant group Hama, arrives for the inauguration of the new Iranian President at the parliament in Tehran, on July 30.

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in Tehran, Iranian state media Press TV reported on Wednesday, citing the?Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) —an elite wing of the Iranian military.

In a separate statement, Hamas said Haniyeh was killed alongside his bodyguard in what it said was an Israeli raid on his residence after he participated in the inauguration of the Iranian president.

It is not clear when Haniyeh was killed.