Hours after an Israeli strike in Tehran killed Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, a video purportedly showing him celebrating the October 7 assault by Hamas on Israel has surface online.
"This was Hamas chief Haniyeh's reaction to the Hamas massacre on October 7. He's not celebrating anymore," Israel War Room said while sharing the video on X.
The Israel War Room X account is based in the US, a Reuters report claimed. NDTV cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video.
In the video, Haniyeh can be seen watching Hamas operatives waving guns on a truck driving through a desert on a TV screen. The clip shows Haniyeh surrounded by several others smiling at the screen before bowing his head and kneeling to offer a prayer.
The Hamas chief and one of his bodyguards were killed after their residence was targeted in Iran, the Palestinian group said in a statement today.
Hamas said Ismail Haniyeh was killed in "a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran" Tuesday morning. The group said an investigation is on to find out more details about the attack.
Haniyeh was in the Iranian capital to attend the swearing-in of Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian.
"Brother, leader, mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement, died in a Zionist strike on his headquarters in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of the new (Iranian) president," the statement read.
Haniyeh was elected head of the Hamas political bureau in 2017 to succeed Khaled Meshaal. Considered a pragmatist, Haniyeh lived in exile and split his time between Turkey and Qatar.
Israel had vowed to kill Ismail Haniyeh and destroy the Hamas group after October 7 attack that resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians.
