Israel-Hamas war latest: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, Iran says

TEL AVIV: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said early Wednesday. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the assassination but suspicion fell on Israel, which has vowed to kill Haniyeh and other leaders of Hamas over the group's Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw some 250 others taken hostage.

Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday. Iran gave no details on how Haniyeh was killed, and the Guard said the attack was under investigation. A separate Israeli strike in Lebanon on Tuesday that appears to have killed Fouad Shukur, a top Hezbollah military commander whom the U.S. blames for planning and launching the deadly 1983 Marine bombing in the Lebanese capital.

Haniyeh left the Gaza Strip in 2019 and had lived in exile in Qatar. The top Hamas leader in Gaza is Yahya Sinwar, who masterminded the Oct. 7 attack sparked the latest Israel-Hamas war.

The killing comes at a precarious time for peace talks, as United States President Joe Biden's administration has tried to push Hamas and Israel to agree to at least a temporary cease-fire and hostage release deal.

The overall Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war rose to at least 39,445 on Wednesday, the Health Ministry said.

Here's the latest:

Beirut and Tehran attacks could spur a different kind of escalation, analyst says BEIRUT — Nabih Awada, a Lebanese political analyst close to the Iranian-backed “axis of resistance” and a former fighter with the Lebanese Communist Party who spent a decade in Israeli prisons along with some of the current Hamas leaders, said that he expects both the strike in Beirut that killed a Hezbollah commander and the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh could spur an “escalation that is different from what we have seen in the past.”

The strike in Beirut targeted a civilian residential area and Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur was targeted “in his home rather than in a military headquarters,” he said. “Therefore, this matter is considered a violation of all rules of engagement.”

Hezbollah, he said, “has developed many equations” including that the response to a strike in Beirut's “southern suburbs will be in Haifa.”

As for the killing of Haniyeh, he said, “All political leaders in the Hamas movement have a military history in one way or another. However, Ismail Haniyeh was targeted first because he is a political figure par excellence and because he is the head of the political bureau of Hamas.... Therefore, this assassination is mainly a political assassination” and as such might draw a harsher response than the killing of a military commander.

Awada said the responses would depend on the facts that emerge from the attacks.

“If the missile was launched from the area of Azerbaijan or from the area of Irbil, the response will be towards these two areas,” he said, but if it was launched from the sky, “we will certainly face a different confrontation.”

Lebanon raises death toll from Israeli attack to 4 civilians as workers search for Shukur's body

BEIRUT — Lebanon's Health Ministry said Thursday that the death toll of an Israeli attack in southern Beirut rose to four civilians, as the United Nations expressed concern of further escalation.

Israel said the attack Wednesday targeted top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukur, who they accused of launching a rocket on Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights that killed 12 youths.

Hezbollah said that Shukur was in the targeted building during the Israeli strike, but civil defense workers were still searching for him under the rubble. The four killed included two children and two women, and many more were wounded.

The strike hit deep into Lebanon, near the capital, stoking fears of the tense skirmishes turning into an all-out war and sparking regional conflict. Residents in the Beirut southern suburb of Haret Hreik told The Associated Press that they heard two strikes that they suspected was a drone attack.

A delegation of Lebanese government ministers visited the site of the attack Thursday. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric expressed “grave concern” over the strikes in the densely populated neighborhood.

“As we await further clarity on the circumstances, we again urge the parties to exercise maximum restraint and call on all concerned to avoid any further escalation,” said Dujarric.

Hezbollah and Israel began exchanging fire along the tense Lebanon-Israel border almost daily since the latest Israel-Hamas war began.

China says it's concerned that Haniyeh's death could lead to further tensions in the Middle East

BEIJING — China said it condemns the assassination of Haniyeh, and said it was concerned that the leader's death would lead to further tensions in the region.

“We firmly oppose and condemn the act of assassination. We are deeply concerned that this incident may lead to escalation and turbulence in the region,” said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian at a daily briefing Wednesday.

“China has always advocated resolving regional disputes through negotiations and dialogues. The Gaza Strip should achieve a comprehensive and permanent cease-fire as soon as possible to avoid further escalation of conflicts and confrontations.”

China served as a mediator between Hamas and Fatah and had gathered the two Palestinian factions together in Beijing last Tuesday to sign an agreement to form a government together after the war. Beijing increasingly has influence in the Middle East and is playing an active role in diplomacy in the region.

Iran's president condemns Haniyeh's killing, which took place hours after Pezeshkian was sworn in

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday.

He said in a post on the X platform that his country will defend its territorial integrity and make those responsible regret their actions. He ended the post with a Quran verse, saying “The God is all powerful and capable of revenge.”

Hamas has blamed Israel, which has declined to comment.

Haniyeh attended the Pezeshkian's swearing-in ceremony Tuesday, along with other Hamas officials and officials from Hezbollah and allied groups.

Videos showed that after the ceremony, Pezeshkian hugged Haniyeh and raised his hand while they were laughing.

Regional allies of Hamas issue condolences after Haniyeh's killing

BEIRUT — Hamas' regional allies issued condolences and statements of defiance Wednesday in response to the killing of the group's political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an alleged Israeli strike in Iran.

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah called Haniyeh a “great and honest leader and dear brother” and extended condolences to his family “who have offered dozens of martyrs from among their men and women on the path to liberating Jerusalem and Palestine.”

Yemen's Houthi rebels called Haniyeh's assassination a “major escalation and a greater transgression, and a blatant violation of all international laws, norms and covenants” and said the group is “determined to stand by Hamas and all resistance factions in confronting the American-backed Zionist rampage.”

Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant group that has been fighting alongside Hamas in Gaza, said that the “sinful assassination” will “not deter our people from continuing the resistance to put an end to the Zionist criminality that has crossed all limits.”

It remains unclear how Hamas' allies in the region will respond to the killing, as well as to a separate Israeli strike in Lebanon on Tuesday that appears to have killed a top Hezbollah commander.

Haniyeh's death won't stop Hamas, and Israel won't succeed, spokesperson says CAIRO — Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesperson for Hamas, said that the killing of the group's leader, Ismail Haniyeh, won't impact the group, saying that Israel won't achieve its goals including eradicating the Palestinian.

“The occupation will not succeed in achieving its goals,” he told The Associated Press, adding that Hamas emerged stronger after past crises and assassination of its leaders.

He accused Israel of “spreading chaos and evil” in the region. He called for regional governments to speak out against Israel's acts, and abandon “the state of silence, because more silence means more chaos.”

Turkey condemns Haniyeh's death, alleging the attack aims to escalate regional fighting

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey strongly condemned the “heinous assassination” of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, attributing the killing to the Israeli government.

A Foreign Ministry statement said the killing had shown that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government “has no intention of achieving peace.”

The ministry statement said the attack aimed to escalate the Gaza conflict to a regional scale and cautioned that larger conflicts could engulf the region if the international community does not intervene to halt Israel's actions.

Turkey is a vocal critic of Israel's military actions in Gaza and often expresses support for Hamas. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has regularly hosted Haniyeh.

Palestinian detainees taken by Israeli authorities faced torture and mistreatment, UN report says

GENEVA — The United Nations human rights office issued a report Wednesday saying Palestinian detainees taken by Israeli authorities since the Oct. 7 attacks have faced waterboarding, sleep deprivation, electric shocks and other torture and mistreatment.

The report on detention says Israel's prison service held more than 9,400 “security detainees” as of the end of June, and some have been held in secret without access to lawyers or respect for their legal rights.

A summary of the report, based on interviews with former detainees and other sources, decries a “staggering” number of detainees and raised concerns about arbitrary detention.

“The testimonies gathered by my office and other entities indicate a range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs on detainees, amongst other acts, in flagrant violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law,” said U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Türk in a statement.

Findings in the report, one of the most extensive of its kind, could be used by International Criminal Court prosecutors who are looking into crimes committed in connection with the Oct. 7 attacks and its aftermath, including Israel's blistering military campaign that is ongoing in Gaza.

Authors of the report said its content was shared with the Israeli government. The Associated Press has contacted the Israeli diplomatic mission for comment.

I don't think that war is inevitable,' US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin says MANILA, Philippines — United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that even with the events of the past 24 hours, Washington hoped that Israel would be able to come to a diplomatic solution and deescalate the situation.

“I don't think that war is inevitable,” he told reporters in Manila, Philippines. “I maintain that. I think there's always room and opportunity for diplomacy, and I'd like to see parties pursue those opportunities.”

He added, however, that the United States has for some time been looking at events on Israel's border with Lebanon with “concern.”

“Again, we're going to do everything we can to make sure that we keep things from turning into a broader conflict throughout the region.”

Asked what the U.S. would do if the conflict did escalate into a wider war, Austin reiterated his comments from the previous day that “if Israel is attacked, we certainly will help defend Israel.”

“You saw us do that in April, you can expect to see us do that again,” he said. “But we don't want to see any of that happen. We're going to work hard to make sure that … we're doing things to help take the temperature down and address the issues through diplomatic means.”

Hezbollah says they are still searching for the body of commander targeted in Israeli strike

BEIRUT — The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said Wednesday they were still searching for the body of a top commander targeted in an Israeli strike in Beirut.

The Iran-backed group's first comment after the strike targeting Fouad Shukur came hours after his death Tuesday and followed the overnight strike in Tehran that killed Haniyeh. Hezbollah did not comment about the Hamas leader's death.

Israel claimed late Tuesday that they had killed Shukur, who they said was behind a rocket attack on Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 youths.

Hezbollah said civil defense workers were still searching for his body and others under the rubble of the building Israel struck.

Like most of Hezbollah's military officials, little is known about Shukur, who was also known as Sayed Mohsen. Washington blames him for planning and staging the truck bombing of a Marine Corps barracks in Beirut that killed 241 American service members in 1983.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said that at least two children and a woman were killed in the attack, while 74 others were wounded.

Palestinians leaders condemn Haniyeh's reported killing as a cowardly act'

In the West Bank on Wednesday, the internationally backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Haniyeh's killing, calling it a “cowardly act and dangerous development.”

Political factions in the occupied territory called for strikes in protest at the killing.

Senior Palestinian official Hussein al-Sheikh in the West Bank also condemned Haniyeh's assassination as a “cowardly act.”

“We strongly denounce and condemn the assassination of the head of the Political Bureau, the national leader, Ismail Haniyeh,” the Palestinian Authority's civil affairs chief wrote on X. “We consider it a cowardly act, this pushes us to remain more steadfast in the face of the occupation, and the necessity of achieving the unity of the Palestinian forces and factions.”

Hamas senior official Moussa Abu Marzouk, meanwhile, said that Haniyeh's assassination will not go unanswered, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported Wednesday. He also called the assassination a cowardly act.

Apparent assassination of Hamas leader comes at a precarious time for Biden WASHINGTON — The apparent assassination comes at a precarious time, as United States President Joe Biden's administration has tried to push Hamas and Israel to agree to at least a temporary cease-fire and hostage release deal.

CIA Director Bill Burns was in Rome on Sunday to meet with senior officials from Israel, Qatar and Egypt in the latest round of talks. Separately, Brett McGurk, the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, is in the region for talks with U.S. partners.

There was no immediate reaction to the reports of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh's assassination from the White House.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, Iran says

TEHRAN, Iran — Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said early Wednesday.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the assassination but suspicion immediately fell on Israel, which has vowed to kill Haniyeh and other leaders of Hamas over the group's Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw some 250 others taken hostage.

Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday. Iran gave no details on how Haniyeh was killed, and the Guard said the attack was under investigation.

Haniyeh left the Gaza Strip in 2019 and had lived in exile in Qatar. The top Hamas leader in Gaza is Yahya Sinwar, who masterminded the Oct. 7 attack.

Analysts on Iranian state television immediately began blaming Israel for the attack.

Israel itself did not immediately comment but it often doesn't when it comes to assassinations carried out by their Mossad intelligence agency.