Hamas said its political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in “a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran”.

    Lebanon’s Health Ministry says three people, including two children, have been killed and 74 wounded in a strike the Israeli military described as a “targeted assassination operation” against a Hezbollah commander in southern Beirut.

    A further 42 bodies were retrieved from eastern Khan Younis as Gaza officials say at least 255 Palestinians were killed during the nine-day Israeli army ground operation in the southern city.

    Nine young men have been killed in an Israeli attack as they transported bodies from the Bureij refugee camp to the Nuseirat camp on an animal-drawn cart, exclusive footage obtained by Al Jazeera shows.

    At least 39,400 people have been killed and 90,996 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 and more than 200 were taken captive.

    Israeli military declines to comment

    The AFP news agency is reporting that the Israeli military has declined to comment on foreign media reports of Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination.

    Assassination has long been an Israeli strategy: Analyst

    Rami Khouri, a non-resident senior fellow at the Arab Center Washington and a distinguished fellow at the American University of Beirut, spoke to Al Jazeera about the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.

    One of the Israelis aims in Gaza is to “destroy Hamas as a movement”, Khouri told Al Jazeera, but since this is proving “very difficult,” they are instead saying “well, we need to kill all the leaders.”

    The reported assassination of Haniyeh in Iran “may be part of that process,” he added.

    Khouri noted that assassinating leaders of groups like Hamas and Hezbollah has long been an Israeli strategy but he said it has not proved successful, since past assassinations led to increased public support for the movements.

    Speaking on the events of October 7, Khouri noted that “it’s not clear whether the political wing that Haniyeh led was aware of the attack that the military wing undertook.”

    “We hear people said they knew about it, other people said they didn’t know about it, and we’ll only find out when history books are written,” he said.

    Israeli government minister celebrates Hamas chief’s assassination

    Israel’s Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu said the killing of the Hamas leader “makes the world a little better”.

    “No mercy for these mortals,” Eliyahu wrote in a post on X.

    “The iron hand that will strike them, is the one that will bring peace and a little comfort and strengthen our ability to live in peace with those who desire peace,” he said.