Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is assassinated in Iran in a purported Israeli attack, raising the risk of escalation.

**BEIRUT (AP)** — Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a predawn airstrike in Tehran on Wednesday, according to Iran and Hamas, both attributing the assassination to Israel. This event risks escalating the conflict as the U.S. and other nations strive to prevent an all-out regional war. Iran’s supreme leader has vowed to retaliate against Israel.

Israel, which has vowed to eliminate Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders following the group’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, has not yet commented on the incident. The strike occurred shortly after Haniyeh attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president and just hours after Israel targeted a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut, Lebanon.

The assassination of Hamas' top political leader is particularly explosive due to the target, timing, and location in Tehran. The most significant threat is the potential for direct confrontation between Iran and Israel if Iran chooses to retaliate.

“We consider his revenge as our duty,” said Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on his official website, warning that Israel had “prepared a harsh punishment for itself” by killing “a dear guest in our home.”

Earlier this year, Israel and Iran nearly plunged into war when Israel struck Iran’s embassy in Damascus in April. Iran responded, leading to an unprecedented exchange of strikes on each other’s soil. International efforts eventually contained the conflict before it escalated further.

Haniyeh’s killing might also cause Hamas to withdraw from negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage release deal in the 10-month-old Gaza war, which U.S. mediators had indicated were making progress.

Additionally, the assassination could worsen tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, which international diplomats were trying to manage after a weekend rocket attack killed 12 young people in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

On Tuesday evening, Israel conducted a rare strike in Beirut, claiming it killed a top Hezbollah commander allegedly behind the Golan strike. Hezbollah, denying any involvement in the Golan attack, reported that it was still searching for the body of Fouad Shukur in the rubble of the building hit in the Beirut suburb, which also killed two women and two children, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

There was no immediate response from the White House regarding Haniyeh’s killing. A critical question remains whether Israel informed its key ally, the U.S., in advance of the strike.

Asked about Haniyeh’s assassination during a visit to Singapore, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated, “This is something we were not aware of or involved in.”