Haniyeh, a chief negotiator for Hamas and based in Qatar, was in Tehran for the inauguration of Iran’s new president on Tuesday. He was martyred “in a treacherous Zionist airstrike on his residence” in the city, Hamas said in a statement early Wednesday. The media said his bodyguard also died.
Oil prices jumped, with Brent crude climbing 1.5% to just below $80 a barrel as of 12:20 p.m. in Singapore, though it’s still down this week. Gold also rose, Bloomberg reported.
Haniyeh, in his early 60s, was key to the ongoing cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas and his death has the potential to scupper them.
The US has said in the past week that a deal’s getting closer, even if there’s still plenty to resolve.
Haniyeh’s death follows an Israeli strike on Beirut late Tuesday aiming at a senior Hezbollah commander.
In April, Israel killed martyred of Haniyeh’s children in an airstrike in Gaza.
SD/