The Israeli military killed two key figures in two separate airstrikes. It seems that Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran's capital Tehran and Hezbollah's top military commander Fouad Shokor was killed in Beirut. With the series of air-strikes and rocket attacks Israel has intensified war against Gaza. The scars of conflict are deeper and longer lasting in Middle East.
How was Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed?
Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh (62) was killed in an attack in Tehran, the capital of Iran. This is a huge setback for Hamas, which has been fighting Israel for months. In Israel air attacks which targeted Hamas chief’s residence in Tehran, Ismail Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed in a statement.
Iran's state media agency Press TV confirmed the incident. Hamas also confirmed the death of its chief. Hamas has revealed that this is an atrocity committed by the Israeli military. A statement by Hamas says an "Israeli" raid killed the Palestinian group's leader Ismail Haniyeh in his residence in Tehran.
Mousa Abu Marzook, a member of Hamas political bureau, said the "cowardly" assassination of Ismail Haniyeh "won't go unanswered".
A statement by the IRGC's Public Relations Department said the attack was carried out July 31, adding that a probe is underway to find the cause of the incident. The statement offered condolences to the people of Palestine, the Muslim world, and the Resistance Front's fighters over the Hamas leader's death.
Earlier on July 30, Haniyeh had attended the inauguration of Iran's new president and met Iran's Supreme Leader. The Palestinian leader was assassinated hours after praising Tehran's support for Hamas and Palestine during his meeting with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Israel claims killing top Hezbollah Commander
Israel's army has announced that it killed Hezbollah's top military commander, Fouad Shokor, in an airstrike in Beirut, saying the assassination was retaliation for a cross-border rocket that killed 12 youngsters on recent military airstrikes.
Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group and political party, did not immediately confirm his condition.
"IDF (Israel Defense Forces) conducted a targeted strike in Beirut, eliminating Fouad Shokor, also known as 'Sayyid Muhsan,' the most senior military commander and head of the Strategic Unit of Hezbollah," IDF's Spokesperson Daniel Hagari told a press briefing in Tel Aviv on July 30.
Hagari said that Shokor served also as Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah's "right-hand man" and was Nasrallah's adviser for planning and directing wartime operations.
In a press release, IDF blamed Shokor for being responsible for the deadly rocket on recent airstrikes that hit a football pitch in Majdal Shams, a Druze town in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
A strong blast was heard in the Lebanese capital on July 30 night, and video footage on social media showed mass destruction of a residential building, with rubble scattered in the street.