Israel strikes kill Hamas leader, Hezbollah commander

Separate Israeli strikes in Iran and Lebanon killed the political leader of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Wednesday and commander of the Iran-backed movement Hezbollah on Tuesday.

“Brother leader, mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement, died in a Zionist strike on his residence in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of the new (Iranian) president,” Hamas said in a statement.

“The occupation (Israel) is responsible for this attack and the United States also bears responsibility as well,” Senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Haniyeh’s son, Abdul Salam Ismail Haniyeh, said his father had “achieved what he wished for.”

“We are in a state of continuous revolution and struggle against the occupation,” he said in a statement.

“The resistance will not end with the assassination of the leadership, and Hamas will continue to resist until liberation.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed Wednesday to make Israel “regret” the “cowardly” killing of Haniyeh.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will defend its territorial integrity, honor, pride and dignity, and make the terrorist invaders regret their cowardly action,” said Pezeshkian in a post on X where he mourned Haniyeh as “a brave leader.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vows strong response against Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel’s army said its jets had “eliminated” Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah commander responsible for carrying out an attack on the annexed Golan Heights where 12 Druze children were killed on Saturday.

A source close to Hezbollah said Shukr was the target but that he “survived the Israeli strike.” AFP was not immediately able to confirm that report.

Shukr is “in charge of commanding the military operations in southern Lebanon,” the source added, saying he had succeeded top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in a 2008 Damascus car bombing the group blamed on Israel.

Shukr has a $5 million price on his head from the US Treasury, which describes him as a “senior adviser” to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who played “a central role” in the deadly 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut.

The Hezbollah source said two people were killed in Tuesday’s strike. Lebanon’s official National News Agency said a “number” of people were injured.

Lebanon’s health ministry said Wednesday that three people, including two children, had been killed in the strike, which also left 74 injured, updating an earlier toll.

An AFP photographer at the scene saw an eight-story building that had partially collapsed in the strike, while ambulances struggled through crowds and rescue workers combed through the rubble of the building for survivors.