ISMAIL HANIYEH'S DEATH A BLOW TO HAMAS

Ismail Haniyeh, political leader of Hamas since 2017, has been the most visible leader of the group during Israel’s war in Gaza, and was key in ongoing ceasefire and hostage release negotiations.

Hamas and Iranian state media said Wednesday that the 62-year-old had been killed in the Iranian capital Tehran. Hamas claimed Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli “strike” on his residence, while the Israeli military declined to comment when contacted by CNN.

Haniyeh’s death strikes a significant blow to Hamas at a time when tensions are flaring across the Middle East over the devastating war in Gaza, and raises fraught questions about the future of negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

As Hamas’s political leader, he was a key interlocutor with international mediators during stalled hostage and ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, following the group’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Haniyeh was born in a refugee camp near Gaza City, and joined Hamas in the late 1980s during the First Intifada, or uprising against Israel’s occupation in Gaza and the West Bank.

His parents were refugees expelled from Askalan, which later became known as the Israeli city Ashkelon.