Ismail Haniyeh, a senior leader of Hamas, was reportedly killed early Wednesday when his residence in Tehran was targeted, according to a statement from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Hamas, the Palestinian organization engaged in conflict with Israel, accused Israel of carrying out the attack, describing it as a "treacherous Zionist raid."

Haniyeh, who had been leading Hamas's political efforts from exile in Qatar, had attended the inauguration of Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian the previous day and met with Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Israel's military stated it was prepared for any scenario, but expressed a preference to avoid a broader conflict. Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari emphasized a desire to resolve hostilities without escalating into a wider war.

Haniyeh had been involved in ceasefire negotiations during the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. Previously, Hamas claimed that Israeli airstrikes had killed three of Haniyeh's sons and four of his grandchildren in April.

The death of Haniyeh follows the recent claim by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that they had killed Fuad Shukr, a top Hezbollah commander linked to a drone strike that killed children in the Golan Heights.

Who Was Ismail Haniyeh?

Ismail Haniyeh, 62, was born in a Gaza City refugee camp and joined Hamas in the late 1980s. He became a close associate of Hamas’s founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Haniyeh served several prison sentences in Israel during the 1980s and 1990s. After Hamas's victory in the 2006 legislative elections, he briefly served as the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority before being dismissed in 2007. In 2017, he was elected head of Hamas's political wing and was designated a "specially designated global terrorist" by the United States the same year.