Live updates: Top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Iran

1 year ago

Body of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr found in Beirut rubble

From Chris Irvine

The body of Fuad Shukr, the Hezbollah commander who was targeted in a strike in Beirut on Tuesday, has been found in the rubble, security sources have told Reuters.

Shukr has been named as the man responsible for the deadly attack on Israeli children playing Soccer in the Golan Heights over the weekend. He was also wanted by the U.S. government for his involvement in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, which killed roughly 300 American and French soldiers and wounded hundreds more.

A blunt message from Israel’s X account simply said Shukr was “no longer a threat”.

1 year ago

Esper: Iranian response to Haniyeh assassination could resemble April aerial assault

From Mike Brest

The world is watching and waiting to see how Iran will respond to the overnight assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader, in Tehran, which Israel is widely believed to be responsible.

“Worst case, it’s probably a multi-pronged attack, a combination of Hezbollah responding and Iran responding, probably the militia groups as well,” former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told the Washington Examiner. “And I would assume, again, it would be some type of combination of missile, rocket and drone strikes against Israeli facilities.

In April, Iranian forces launched about 300 rockets, missiles, and drones at Israel following an Israeli strike on an Iranian consulate in Syria that killed a senior Iranian commander and other senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Israel, with the help of several allies, including the United States, were able to intercept nearly all of them.

“It’s hard to tell, but I think would look something along those same lines if, if they decide to go that route, they may decide to go another avenue, maybe attack Israeli facilities” outside the country, like an embassy.

1 year ago

Ayatollah Khamenei issues order to strike Israel directly: Report

From Brady Knox

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued an order to strike Israel directly in retaliation for the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, according to a report.

Three Iranian officials, including two members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, told the New York Times the order was issued after an emergency meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on Wednesday. The reported order comes as the Iranian government publicly vowed retaliation after the head of one of its allies was killed in the heart of its capital.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

However, the exact nature of the attack is still unclear, and possibly not even decided yet. The Iranian officials said that multiple options are being considered, including missile and drone strikes against military targets in Tel Aviv and Haifa. Another option being considered is a coordinated attack from Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq.

1 year ago

Esper: Hahiyeh assassination ‘slap in the face’ to Tehran

From Mike Brest

The assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran apparently demonstrate Israel’s military and covert capabilities, according to former U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.

Israel has not confirmed responsibility for the assassination but there are widely believed to be responsible given the U.S.’s denial of involvement and their publicly known desire to hunt down Hamas leaders involved in the Oct. 7 terror attack.

Haniyeh was killed “in Tehran within hours of a ceremony installing the new president of the Islamic Republic,” he told the Washington Examiner. “Haniyeh was a guest of the Ayatollah, so it was quite a slap in the face and embarrassment to the regime, and shows, once again, the prowess of the Israeli intelligence and military.”

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said “it is our duty to take revenge” because Haniyeh was killed within Iranian borders.

1 year ago

US launches strike on Iran-backed forces in Iraq

From Ailin Vilches Arguello

The United States launched a strike on Iranian-backed forces in Iraq, marking its first operation in the country since February.

According to Iraqi officials, U.S. fighter jets struck several Iranian-aligned militia groups in Babil province, south of Baghdad, on Tuesday. 

The strike killed four members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which includes several Iran-backed armed militias, and injured four others.

PMF denounced this attack and called on Iraq to “unite efforts to make an immediate decision for the expulsion of foreign forces from our country.”

1 year ago

Iran raises red flag of revenge and vows to retaliate

From Brady Knox

Iran raised a symbolic red flag of revenge above an important mosque while vowing to take revenge against Israel over its assassination of Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh.

The red flag was raised above Jamkaran Mosque in the city of Qom. According to the Kashmir Observer, it has only been raised above the mosque outside of religious reasons six times in recent history, notably after the assassination of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Leader Qasem Soleimani in January 2020.

Meanwhile, the Iranian government vowed revenge against Israel.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

“The criminal, terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our territory and has caused our grief, but it has also prepared the ground for a severe punishment,” Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in a post on X.

Click here to read more.

1 year ago

BLM activist ‘furious’ after ‘dear brother’ Hamas leader was killed by Israel

From Peter Cordi

Left-wing activist Shaun King is “furious” after his “dear brother” Ismail Haniyeh, the political head of Hamas, was killed by Israel Tuesday night after 12 children were killed by Hezbollah while playing soccer on Saturday.

King voiced his outrage in a series of posts on Telegram on Wednesday, and further proclaimed his support for Hamas’s violent “resistance to the Zionist war criminals” in response to the assassination of Haniyeh.

“These genocidal monsters think that this weakens Hamas, or weakens the resistance, but it does neither,” King said. “It will only strengthen both.”

Drawing from Nelson Mandela’s previous statements, King endorsed the idea that Palestinians “have the right to armed resistance” against what he characterizes as Israeli “Apartheid,” and when non-violent methods of so-called liberation fail, “we must pursue liberation with violence — AS ALL FREE PEOPLE DO.”

Click here to read the full story.

1 year ago

Prospects for ceasefire deal unclear after Haniyeh assassination

From Mike Brest

The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, a senior leader of Hamas, threatens to unravel the progress mediators have made toward reaching a ceasefire deal between the terror group and Israel, the presumed perpetrator of the killing.

The U.S., Egyptian, and Qatari governments have spent several months meeting separately with the Israeli and Hamas delegations trying to negotiate a deal that would stop the war, even temporarily, and allow for the release of the more than 100 Israeli hostages Hamas has held since Oct. 7 and a surge of desperately needed humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who has been directly involved in the negotiations, questioned Israel’s desire to actually get a deal done.

“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? Peace needs serious partners & a global stance against the disregard for human life,” he said on X.

1 year ago

US denies involvement in assassination of top Hamas official

From Mike Brest

Secretary of State Antony Blinken denied any U.S involvement in the overnight assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Blinken, who is currently in the Pacific region visiting regional leaders with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, told Channel News Asia the U.S. was “not aware of or involved in” the assassination attempt.

Haniyeh was essentially Hamas’s foreign diplomat, given he was not based in Gaza, who met with allies in Tehran at the time of his assassination. He was leading Hamas’s negotiations for a ceasefire deal, which is now even more in question.

“It’s profoundly in the interest of putting things in a better path,” Blinken said of a deal. “We’ll continue to work at that everyday.”

1 year ago

Hamas and Hezbollah leaders taken out in 24 hour span

From Chris Irvine

Senior leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas were assassinated in separate attacks in Beirut, Lebanon and Tehran, Iran over the last 24 hours.

First, on Tuesday, Israel’s military announced it targeted and “eliminated” Fuad Shukr, a senior commander in Hezbollah, whom the Israelis said were responsible for an attack in the Golan Heights that killed a dozen children.

Overnight into Wednesday, Hamas and Iranian media announced the killing of its political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

The world will now wait to see how Hamas will respond, if it can, what Iran will do, and whether it will lead to an expansion of the current war.

Click here to read the full story on Haniyeh’s death by Breaking News Reporter Brady Knox

Click here to read the full story on Shukr’s death by Defense Reporter Mike Brest