"Haniyeh is in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard stated that Haniyeh was killed along with one of his bodyguards. "The residence of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political office of the Islamic Resistance Hamas, was attacked in Tehran, and as a result of this incident, he and one of his bodyguards were killed," said a statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, quoted by CNA, Wednesday, July 31, 2024."

A Hamas official described the killing as a serious escalation and stated that it would not achieve its objectives. Meanwhile, the Israeli military was reluctant to respond to the news after Iranian state media reported the death of Haniyeh.

"Ismail Haniyeh, a Sunni Muslim, has played a significant role in building the combat capacity of Hamas. As a young man, Haniyeh was a student activist at the Islamic University in Gaza City. He joined Hamas when the organization was founded during the first Palestinian intifada or uprising in 1987. He was arrested and briefly deported."

"Haniyeh became a student of the founder of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, who, like Haniyeh's family, was a refugee from the village of Al Jura near Ashkelon. In 2003, he became Yassin's trusted aide. However, Yassin was killed by Israel in 2004."