After promising to assassinate Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders over the terrorist organization’s Oct. 7 onslaught on the Jewish State, which resulted in 1,200 deaths and about 250 kidnappings, Israel was promptly held accountable for the assassination, according to the Associated Press.
On Tuesday, Haniyeh was in Tehran for the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. During Pezeshkian’s oath, there were shouts of “Death to America, Israel.”
Iran withheld information on Haniyeh’s manner of death. An investigation is underway into the incident.
Iranian state television pundits quickly accused Israel of being responsible for the murder.
Though it typically stays silent about killings conducted by its Mossad spy service, Israel refrained from commenting right after.
Lisa Daftari, Middle East analyst and editor-in-chief at The Foreign Desk, told News that “the fact that such a high-ranking Hamas leader was assassinated on Iranian soil was an added bonus for Israel, particularly directly after he participated in the inauguration ceremony of the new Islamic Republic president.”