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Article Body Text<p>Hamas said Wednesday an Israeli attack killed its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran where Haniyeh had traveled to attend the swearing-in of Iran’s new president.</p> <p>A Hamas statement posted on the militant group’s Telegram channel said Haniyeh was killed at a residence in the Iranian capital.</p> <p>Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said one of Haniyeh’s bodyguards was also killed in the early morning attack, and that the incident was under investigation.</p> <figure><img src="https://gdb.voanews.com/e036c684-74ed-4540-acfe-9fcc00ca2a70_w1600_r1_n_s.jpg" /><figcaption>Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian meets with Palestinian group Hamas' top leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, July 30, 2024.</figcaption></figure> <p>Israel did not immediately comment.</p> <p>Haniyeh’s death comes nearly 10 months after Iran-backed Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.</p> <p>Israel responded with a military campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 39,400 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between militants and civilians in its count.</p> <p>Haniyeh became the head of Hamas’ political bureau in 2017, and had been living in exile in Qatar after leaving Gaza in 2019.</p> <p>Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been trying for months to negotiate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, but that process faced serious questions Wednesday.</p> <p>“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?” Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al said on the social media platform X. “Peace needs serious partners & a global stance against the disregard for human life.”</p> <p>Qatar’s foreign ministry called the strike a “dangerous escalation.”</p> <p>"This assassination and the reckless Israeli behavior of continuously targeting civilians in Gaza will lead to the region slipping into chaos and undermine the chances of peace,” Qatar’s foreign ministry said in a statement.</p> <p>U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during an event Wednesday in Singapore, “All I can tell you right now is I think nothing takes away from the importance … of getting to the cease-fire.”</p> <p>“I’m not going to speculate on what impact any one event might have on that,” Blinken said. “What I do know is the enduring imperative of getting the cease-fire, and what I do know is we’ll continue to work at that every day.”</p> <p>When asked if he could confirm whether Israel was behind the Tehran attack, and if Israel notified the United States, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters in the Philippines, “I don’t have anything for you on that.”</p> <p>Austin said the situation along the Israel-Lebanon border remains a concern, and that he would remain in touch with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and key leaders in the region.</p> <p>“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that we keep things from turning into a broader conflict throughout the region,” Austin said.</p> <p>Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on X that his country will defend its territorial integrity, honor and pride, and will make Israel “regret their cowardly act.”</p> <p>Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Haniyeh’s killing “a cowardly act and a serious escalation,” according to a statement from his office.</p> <p>Turkey condemned what it called the “shameful assassination” of Haniyeh. The Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement “this attack also aims to spread the Gaza war to a regional dimension.”</p> <p>Russia also condemned Haniyeh’s killing, calling it an “unacceptable political assassination.”</p> <p><em>Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. </em></p>
Content TypeText
LanguageEnglish
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
Subtitles / Dubbing AvailableNo
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateJuly 31, 2024 07:33 EDT
BylineVOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
