Palestinian group Hamas said Wednesday that an Israeli strike in Tehran killed its chief Ismail Haniyeh.
"Brother, leader, mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement, died in a Zionist strike on his headquarters in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of the new (Iranian) president," the movement said in a statement.
Who was Ismail Haniyeh?
Haniyeh was born in a Gaza refugee camp in 1962 and attended a United Nations school. He joined Hamas in 1987 at the beginning of a major uprising against Israel known as the first Intifada.
Haniyeh was appointed prime minister of the Palestinian Authority by President Mahmoud Abbas after Hamas won a majority of seats in the 2006 legislative elections.
However, Abbas tried to dismiss him when Hamas unleashed a wave of violence to oust his Fatah party from the Gaza Strip. Haniyeh refused to step down and Hamas continued to rule the Gaza Strip, while Fatah remained responsible for the occupied West Bank.
Haniyeh moved to Qatar to live in exile in 2016. In 2017, he was elected head of Hamas' political bureau, succeeding Khaled Mashaal.
Israel had vowed to kill him following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israeli civilians.
The Hamas militant group is designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and Germany, among others.
