Ismail Haniyeh, a top Hamas leader, in Tehran in March. Credit: Majid Asgaripour/Wana News Agency/Reuters.
One of the highest rank Hamas leaders, Ismail Haniyeh has been assassinated in Iran, the country’s Revolutionary Guards Corps and Hamas said on Wednesday.
Hamas accused Israel of killing Ismail Haniyeh, who was in Tehran for the inauguration of Iran’s new president. He was a key player in negotiations to stop the fighting in Gaza.
Hours ahead of his assassination, Israel said it had struck Fuad Shukr, a senior member of Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia that is also backed by Iran and has been fighting a low-level war with Israel since October. The two strikes have suddenly shifted the calculus in the Middle East, after a month in which Israel and Hamas had appeared to edge closer to a cease-fire in Gaza. Such a deal was expected to lead to a truce between Israel and Hezbollah.
Now, the focus is on how Hamas and Hezbollah will respond to the attacks on their leaders; how Iran will react to a strike on its territory; and whether either reaction leads to the outbreak of a wider regional war. An Israeli strike on Iranian commanders in Syria in April led Iran to fire hundreds of missiles at Israel.
Mr. Haniyeh was a key figure in Hamas’s cease-fire negotiations with Israel, and his assassination makes the prospects for a deal even more unclear.
Israel’s military has not commented on his death and said it does not respond to reports in the foreign news media. In recent years it has carried out a number of high-profile assassinations in Iran, rattling the country’s leaders and prompting a security overhaul including the ouster of a top security official.
哈馬斯最高級別領導人之一在伊朗被殺
伊朗革命衛隊和哈馬斯週三表示，哈馬斯最高級別領導人之一伊斯梅爾·哈尼亞在伊朗遭到暗殺。
哈馬斯指責以色列殺害了在德黑蘭參加伊朗新總統就職典禮的伊斯梅爾·哈尼亞。 他是製止加薩戰鬥談判的關鍵人物。
在他被暗殺前幾個小時，以色列表示襲擊了真主黨高級成員福阿德·舒克爾。 一個月以來，以色列和哈馬斯似乎更接近加薩停火，這兩次攻擊突然改變了中東局勢。 預計這樣的協議將導致以色列和真主黨之間停火。
現在，焦點是哈馬斯和真主黨將如何應對針對其領導人的襲擊； 伊朗將如何應對對其領土的襲擊； 以及這兩種反應是否會導致更廣泛的地區戰爭的爆發。 以色列四月對敘利亞境內的伊朗指揮官發動攻擊，導致伊朗向以色列發射了數百枚飛彈。
哈尼亞是哈馬斯與以色列停火談判的關鍵人物，他的遇刺使達成協議的前景更加不明朗。
以色列軍方尚未對他的死亡發表評論，並表示不會對外國新聞媒體的報導做出回應。 近年來，它在伊朗實施了多起備受矚目的暗殺行動，令該國領導人感到不安，並促使該國進行安全改革，包括罷免一名高級安全官員。
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