The Palestinian Hamas movement announced the death of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the movement's political bureau, while he was in the Iranian capital Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of new Iranian President Masoud Bezhakian. The movement accused Israel of being "behind the assassination," stating that Haniyeh was killed along with his personal guard in a "treacherous Zionist raid" on his residence in Tehran.
Ismail Haniyeh is a prominent leader in Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic movement. Born in 1963 in Gaza City, he is a member of the movement's political bureau. Haniyeh held several leadership positions in Hamas, including Prime Minister of the Palestinian government in Gaza following the movement's victory in the 2006 legislative elections. He is considered an influential figure in Palestinian politics with a significant role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and in relations with Arab and foreign countries.
The assassination in Tehran, just two days after Haniyeh's arrival from Qatar, raised many questions among social media users, notably whether Iran had a role in his assassination and why Tehran failed to protect him despite knowing he was a target for Israel. Reactions varied, with some condemning the event and directly accusing Israel of being behind the attack, while others suggested that Iran itself might be "involved in the assassination" of Haniyeh, sacrificing him as a means to stop Israel from targeting Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon and to avoid escalation.
Iran directly accused Israel of assassinating Haniyeh. The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, tweeted, "Dear people of Iran! The brave and prominent leader of the Palestinian fighters, Mr. Ismail Haniyeh, joined God’s hosts last night." He added, "The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime killed our dear guest in our home."
Revenge symbolism was noted as several Iranian accounts circulated images of the red revenge flag, known as the "flag of revenge," being raised over a mosque dome in Qom after the assassination of Hamas's political bureau head Ismail Haniyeh on Iranian territory. In a circulating video, a person is seen raising the flag over the dome of the Jamkaran Mosque in Qom, the same flag that was raised following the killing of Qassem Soleimani.
It is known that Haniyeh resides in Qatar, along with other Hamas leaders, including Khaled Meshaal, the former head of the political bureau, who was previously targeted for assassination by Israel in Jordan.
Despite the condemnations of Haniyeh's assassination and the vast majority of social media users blaming Israel for the operation—of which no party or country has claimed responsibility so far—some adopted conspiracy theories, alleging that Iran was behind Haniyeh's assassination or facilitated this task for Israel, or even failed to protect him. Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate for her involvement in the Yemeni uprising during the Arab Spring protests, claimed that Iran offered Haniyeh to Israel to be killed. She tweeted, "On the first day of the inauguration of its new president, Iran presents the head of Ismail Haniyeh as a precious gift to Israel."
