Middle East crisis live: Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Tehran as Iran vows ‘revenge’

1.06pm BST

Iran said that the United States bears responsibility in the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh because of its support for Israel, Reuters reported.

12.46pm BST

International reaction to Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh's killing

Here is a roundup of the international reaction from officials so far on the killing of the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh :

Hamas:

A Hamas statement said the group mourned Haniyeh “who died as a result of a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran, after participating in the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president”. You can read the full statement here .

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri called the killing of Haniyeh in Iran “a grave escalation” that will not achieve its goals. He said: “This assassination by the Israeli occupation of Brother Haniyeh is a grave escalation that aims to break the will of Hamas and the will of our people and achieve fake goals. We confirm that this escalation will fail to achieve its objectives.”

Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV cited senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk as saying the killing was of Haniyeh was “a “cowardly act that will not go unpunished”.

Iran:

Iran has no intention of escalating the Middle East conflict, its first vice-president Mohammad Reza Aref said in a statement issued after the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran , Iran’s state media reported on Wednesday.

The comments sit in stark contrast to the words of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei . Khamenei said that avenging Haniyeh’s assassination is “Tehran’s duty” because it occurred in the Iranian capital and that Israel had provided the grounds for “harsh punishment” for itself. Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards military force said in a statement on Wednesday that the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran “will be met with a harsh and painful response.” “Iran and the resistance front will respond to this crime,” it said, employing a term Tehran uses to refer to allied militant groups across the Middle East.

Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said the country will “defend its territorial integrity, dignity, honor, and pride, and will make the terrorist occupiers regret their cowardly act” of killing Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday. He did not elaborate in his statement that was carried by Iranian media.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kan’ani has said Haniyeh’s killing would “strengthen the deep and unbreakable bond between the Islamic Republic of Iran and dear Palestine and the Resistance,” according to Iran’s Mehr news agency. He said the “incident” was being investigated.

Israel:

There has been no immediate comment from Israel on the strike, which took place hours after Haniyeh attended the inauguration ceremony for Iran’s new president.

Several Israeli ministers have reacted to Haniyeh’s death though. The heritage minister, Amichay Eliyahu , celebrated his killing, writing on X : “Haniyeh’s death makes the world a little better” and that this is the “right way to clean the world from this filth”.

Shlomo Karhi , minister of communications, wrote on X: “Yes, all your enemies will perish, O God”, although it later appeared to have been deleted.

Amichai Chikli , minister of diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, posted a video of the Hamas leader on X with the caption “Careful What You Wish For”.

Palestinian Authority:

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas strongly condemned the killing of Haniyeh, Palestinian state news agency Wafa reported, calling it a “cowardly act and [a] dangerous development”. Abbas also called on Palestinians “to unite, be patient and steadfast in the face of the Israeli occupation”, Wafa said, according to Al Jazeera.

Hezbollah:

Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah issued its condolences on Wednesday after Haniyeh’s death. Hezbollah did not specifically accuse Israel but said it would make Iran-aligned groups more determined to confront Israel.

The Houthis:

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi , head of Yemen ’s Houthi Supreme Revolutionary Committee , called Haniyeh’s killing a “heinous terrorist crime”. He said: “Targeting Ismail Haniyeh is a heinous terrorist crime and a flagrant violation of laws and ideal values.”

The US:

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Wednesday the US was not involved in or made aware of the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh . “This is something we were not aware of or involved in. It’s very hard to speculate,” Blinken said in an interview with Channel News Asia during a visit to Singapore , when asked what impact it could have, according to a transcript. Blinken also stressed the importance of a ceasefire in Gaza , saying “it is profoundly in the interest of trying to put things on a better path, not only in Gaza, but actually throughout the region because so much is tied to what’s happening in Gaza right now.”

Egypt:

Egypt said on Wednesday that Israeli escalation indicated a lack of political will from Israel for de-escalation, after the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran. A statement from the Egyptian foreign ministry said this escalation, along with making no progress in Gaza ceasefire talks, was complicating the situation.

Qatar:

The prime minister of Qatar , which has acted as a mediator in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, suggested that the killing of Haniyeh could jeopardise the talks. “Political assassinations and continued targeting of civilians in Gaza while talks continue leads us to ask, how can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on other side?” Prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani wrote on X.

Qatar’s foreign ministry called the killing a “heinous crime” and “shameful assassination”. The ministry added that the strike in Tehran was a “dangerous escalation” and “a flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law”.“This assassination and the reckless Israeli behaviour of continuously targeting civilians in Gaza will lead to the region slipping into chaos and undermine the chances of peace”.

Jordan:

Jordan ’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi , condemned “Israel’s assassination” of Haniyeh. In a post on X, he said: “Israel’s continuation of its aggression against Gaza, its violation of the rights of the Palestinian people, and its crimes against them, and without international action to curb its aggression, will drag the region towards more wars and destruction.”

Turkey:

Turkey has condemned the killing of Haniyeh. “We condemn the assassination of the leader of Hamas’s political office, Ismail Haniyeh, in a shameful assassination in Tehran,” the foreign ministry said, adding that “this attack also aims to spread the Gaza war to a regional dimension”.

“Once again the [Benjamin] Netanyahu government has shown that it has no intention of achieving peace,” the ministry said. “If the international community does not take measures to stop Israel, our region will face much larger conflicts.”

Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan said he was “deeply saddened” to hear about the death of Haniyeh, adding that he had become a symbol of Palestinian resistance. “He had devoted his life to the Palestinian cause, and to bringing peace and tranquility to Palestine,” Fidan said on social media platform X, sharing a photograph of himself and Haniyeh.

Russia:

Russia said on Wednesday that the Middle East was teetering the brink of a major war and that key players were continuing to raise the stakes. “The region is currently balancing on the brink of a global conflict,” Andrei Nastasin , deputy spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry, said. “The parties continue to raise the stakes.” Russia also said that the “manic desire” of the US to monopolise the process of political settlement in the Middle East had led to this situation.

The killing of Haniyeh is an “absolutely unacceptable political assassination”, the Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov told the state news agency Ria. He said: “This is an absolutely unacceptable political murder, and it will lead to further escalation of tensions.” Bogdanov said the killing would also have a negative impact on ceasefire talks in Gaza, Ria added.

China:

The Chinese foreign ministry said that the incident could lead to further regional instability.

Europe:

European leaders have yet to publicly react to the news but a senior EU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, cautioned about the risks of escalation.

“Although Israel didn’t claim Haniyeh assassination, it is seen in the region as demonstration of Israel’s determination to destroy Hamas to the point of making it irrelevant as military threat and to take it out of the political calculations for the ‘day after’ in Gaza and on the Palestinian arena,” the official said.

The official also pointed to the assassination of Fuad Shukur in Beirut and recent strikes on the Hodeidah port in Yemen .

“All this is a clear warning to Teheran and all its proxies in the Middle East that Israel is not afraid to further hit them deadly if they continue to challenge it. This increases the risks of very dangerous escalation but it also pushes the global powers to intensify their efforts in pressuring all sides involved in the conflict with the aim to avoid all-out war,” the official added.

The Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders earlier welcomed the assassination of Haniyeh. “Good Riddance!!” the leader of the Party for Freedom wrote on social media, in addition to a warning for Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah.

Updated at 12.59pm BST

12.11pm BST

The Guardian’s Bethan McKernan , reporting from Jerusalem , has written an analysis piece on how Ismail Haniyeh’ s death brings the prospect of regional war closer.

You can read the full piece below

Related: Ismail Haniyeh’s death brings prospect of regional war closer

Updated at 12.20pm BST

11.54am BST

According to Reuters news agency, Iran ’s state media has announced that there will be three days of national mourning in the country after the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh .

Updated at 11.54am BST

11.48am BST

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Wednesday the US was not involved in or made aware of the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh , reports Reuters.

“This is something we were not aware of or involved in. It’s very hard to speculate,” Blinken said in an interview with Channel News Asia during a visit to Singapore , when asked what impact it could have, according to a transcript.

11.31am BST

US secretary of state stresses importance of ceasefire in Gaza after Hamas leader killing – video

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken , has stressed the importance of a ceasefire in Gaza . Speaking to the media, Blinken said he was aware of the reports of the killing of the Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh , but did not comment directly on the news.

Blinken said:

Of course, I’ve seen the reports and all that I can tell you right now is that I think nothing takes away from the importance of, as I said a moment ago, getting to the ceasefire, which is manifestly in the interests of the hostages and bringing them home. It’s manifestly in the interests of Palestinians who are suffering terribly every single day; children, women, men in Gaza that have been caught in this crossfire of Hamas’s making.

It is profoundly in the interest of trying to put things on a better path, not only in Gaza, but actually throughout the region because so much is tied to what’s happening in Gaza right now. We’ve been working from day one not only to get to a better place in Gaza, but also to prevent the conflict from spreading.”

Updated at 12.15pm BST

11.16am BST

Egypt says Israeli escalation indicates no political will for de-escalation

Egypt said on Wednesday that Israeli escalation indicated a lack of political will from Israel for de-escalation, after the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran .

According to Reuters, a statement from the Egyptian foreign ministry said this escalation, along with making no progress in Gaza ceasefire talks, was complicating the situation.

11.10am BST

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank condemned the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh , the political leader of Hamas who was killed in Iran on Wednesday, but said it would have little effect on the Islamist movement, reports Reuters.

Israeli officials have not so far claimed responsibility for the killing of Haniyeh, who had been in Tehran for the inauguration of the new Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian , and there has been no official comment from the government.

But, according to Reuter’s report, few doubted that Haniyeh, the public face of Hamas who took the top job in 2017, was the latest in a string of Hamas leaders to have been killed by Israel.

“We woke up this morning to a tragedy for the Palestinian people,” Fawzi Nassar , a resident of the southern city of Hebron , told Reuters. “He is not the first one they assassinated – there were many leaders in the past like Shiekh Ahmed Yassin and others, but that will not affect our steadfastness,” he said, referring to the founder of Hamas who was killed by an Israeli helicopter gunship in 2004.

Palestinian factions called for a day of protest and a general strike in the West Bank and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas , whose Fatah faction is a political rival to Hamas, condemned the killing, which Fatah called a “heinous and cowardly act”.

According to Reuters, although the West Bank is under the nominal leadership of the Palestinian Authority, run by Fatah, opinion polls show support for Hamas is strong.

“His assassination will not affect the party because the party is not a new one,” Suheil Nasrelddin , a resident of Hebron, told Reuters. “They have a lot of leaders, even the youngest child is a leader.”

“The Israeli crime of assassinating Ismael Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, will not break the Palestinian resistance or the Palestinian people’s determination to achieve our freedom,” said Mustafa Barghouti , a Palestinian politician who heads the Union Of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees .

“Of course it will escalate the situation,” he said. “And this is what Netanyahu wants, he knows that the end of this war is the end of his political career.”

10.57am BST

Referring specifically to war with Lebanon ’s Hezbollah movement, Israel ’s defence minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that Israel is not seeking to escalate, but that it is prepared to handle all scenarios.

Reuters reports that Gallant’s comments made during a visit to a missile defence battery were reported by Israeli media outlets and confirmed by his spokesperson.

Updated at 11.46am BST

10.51am BST

Funeral of Ismail Haniyeh to be held in Tehran and burial to take place in Doha

A funeral for Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh will be held in Tehran on Thursday and then his body will be transferred to Qatar’ s capital Doha for prayers and burial, the group said in a statement on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

Updated at 10.51am BST

10.49am BST

Iran has no intention of escalating Middle East conflict, first VP says - state media report

Iran has no intention of escalating the Middle East conflict, its first vice-president Mohammad Reza Aref said in a statement issued after the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran , Iran’s state media reported on Wednesday.

The comments sit in stark contrast to the words of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday. Khamenei said that avenging Haniyeh’s assassination is “Tehran’s duty” because it occurred in the Iranian capital and that Israel had provided the grounds for “harsh punishment” for itself.

There has been no immediate comment from Israel on the strike, which took place hours after Haniyeh attended the inauguration ceremony for Iran’s new president.

10.44am BST

Footage shows Haniyeh's last meeting with Iran's supreme leader

The Guardian video team has shared the below footage of Hamas ’s Ismail Haniyeh ’s last meeting with Iran ’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei . You can view it here:

Updated at 11.17am BST

10.36am BST

European leaders have yet to publicly react to the news that Hamas ’s Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran .

But a senior EU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, cautioned about the risks of escalation.

“Although Israel didn’t claim Haniyeh assassination, it is seen in the region as demonstration of Israel’s determination to destroy Hamas to the point of making it irrelevant as military threat and to take it out of the political calculations for the ‘day after’ in Gaza and on the Palestinian arena,” the official said.

The official also pointed to the assassination of Fuad Shukur in Beirut and recent strikes on the Hodeidah port in Yemen .

“All this is a clear warning to Teheran and all its proxies in the Middle East that Israel is not afraid to further hit them deadly if they continue to challenge it. This increases the risks of very dangerous escalation but it also pushes the global powers to intensify their efforts in pressuring all sides involved in the conflict with the aim to avoid all-out war,” the official added.

10.33am BST

Russia said on Wednesday that the Middle East was teetering the brink of a major war and that key players were continuing to raise the stakes.

“The region is currently balancing on the brink of a global conflict,” Andrei Nastasin , deputy spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry, said. “The parties continue to raise the stakes.”

According to Reuters, Russia said the “manic desire” of the US to monopolise the process of political settlement in the Middle East had led to this situation.

10.19am BST

Qatar PM says killing of Haniyeh could jeopardise Gaza ceasefire talks

The prime minister of Qatar , which has acted as a mediator in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas , suggested on Wednesday that the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh could jeopardise the talks.

“Political assassinations and continued targeting of civilians in Gaza while talks continue leads us to ask, how can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on other side?” Prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani wrote on X.

“Peace needs serious partners and a global stance against the disregard for human life.”

10.14am BST

A member of parliament from Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said on Wednesday that his group would be ready to fight a war with Israel, after an Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut targeted Hezbollah’s top military commander.

According to Reuters, Ali Ammar spoke to local broadcasters amid the ruins of Tuesday’s strike. “This enemy demands war and we are up for it, God willing, we are up for it,” Ammar said.

10.06am BST

The assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran “will be met with a harsh and painful response,” Iran ’s powerful Revolutionary Guards military force said in a statement on Wednesday, reports Reuters.

“Iran and the resistance front will respond to this crime,” it said, employing a term Tehran uses to refer to allied militant groups across the Middle East .

10.00am BST

More than 39,445 Palestinians have been killed and 91,073 have been injured in Israel ’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The ministry of health in Gaza does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

9.55am BST

Jordan ’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi , has joined a chorus of regional officials who have condemned “Israel’s assassination” of Ismail Haniyeh . In a post on X, he said:

Israel’s continuation of its aggression against Gaza, its violation of the rights of the Palestinian people, and its crimes against them, and without international action to curb its aggression, will drag the region towards more wars and destruction.”

9.51am BST

What we know so far

It is 9.51am in London , 12.21pm in Tehran and 11.51am in Tel Aviv and Gaza. If you are just joining us, here is what we know so far:

• Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed, according to Hamas and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Israel has yet to make any comment on Haniyeh’s killing but in its statement, Hamas accused Israel of the attack. Associated Press reports that analysts on Iranian state television have also begun blaming Israel for the attack.

• The Hamas statement said the group mourned Haniyeh “who died as a result of a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran, after participating in the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president”.

• Avenging Haniyeh’s assassination is “Tehran’s duty” because it occurred in the Iranian capital, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said . Khamenei said Israel had provided the grounds for “harsh punishment” for itself. Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said the country will “defend its territorial integrity, dignity, honor, and pride, and will make the terrorist occupiers regret their cowardly act”.

• The assassination was reported on Iranian state TV early on Wednesday morning. In a statement, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said “The cause and dimensions of this incident are being investigated and the results will be announced later.” Iranian state media have reported that the assassination of Haniyeh took place at around 2am while he was staying at a residence for war veterans. So far little detail as come out about the exact circumstances of the killing.

• Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Haniyeh had been targeted in his residence along with an Iranian bodyguard. It said he had been in Iran to attend the inauguration of president Masoud Pezeshkian and that the circumstances of the “incident” was being investigated.

• The Times of Israel reports that Ismail Haniyeh’s funeral will be held in the Qatari capital Doha on Friday. It cites reports from the Saudi-owned Al Hadath news channel. The Guardian has been unable to verify the report.

• Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk said Haniyeh’s death was a “cowardly act that will not go unpunished” , according to the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV. Another Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri has told Reuters that the killing is a grave escalation that will not achieve its goals.

• Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah issued its condolences on Wednesday after Haniyeh’s death. Hezbollah did not specifically accuse Israel but said it would make Iran-aligned groups more determined to confront Israel.

• Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of Yemen’s Houthi Supreme Revolutionary Committee called Haniyeh’s killing a “heinous terrorist crime”, according to Reutersand “a flagrant violation of laws and ideal values.”

• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has strongly condemned the killing, Palestinian state news agency Wafa reported. Palestinian national and Islamic factions have also called for a general strike and mass demonstrations in response to the assassination.

• Qatar’s foreign ministry called the killing a “heinous crime” and “shameful assassination”. Turkey echoed the condemnation. “We condemn the assassination of the leader of Hamas’s political office, Ismail Haniyeh, in a shameful assassination in Tehran,” the foreign ministry said, adding that “this attack also aims to spread the Gaza war to a regional dimension”.

• The Chinese foreign ministry said that the incident could lead to further regional instability.

• Although Israel has not formally commented, several Israeli ministers have reacted to Haniyeh’s assassination. The heritage minister, Amichay Eliyahu, celebrated his killing, writing on X : “Haniyeh’s death makes the world a little better” and that this is the “right way to clean the world from this filth”.

• Shlomo Karhi, minister of communications, wrote on X: “Yes, all your enemies will perish, O God”, although the post appeared later to have been deleted.

• Amichai Chikli, minister of diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, posted a video of the Hamas leader on X with the caption, “Careful What You Wish For”.

• Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders welcomed the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh. “Good Riddance!!” the leader of the Party for Freedom wrote on social media, adding a warning for Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah.

• Haniyeh was the exiled political chief of the militant group and had spent much of his time in recent years in Qatar. During the Israel-Gaza war he had acted as a negotiator in the ceasefire talks and liased with Hamas’s main ally, Iran. He was photographed in Tehran on Tuesday meeting with Khamenei, and secretary general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, Ziyad al-Nakhalah.

• Haniyeh’s death came just hours after Israel claimed it killed Hezbollah’s top military commander , Fuad Shukur, in an airstrike on a south Beirut suburb launched in retaliation for a rocket attack that killed 12 children at the weekend.

• US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has held a press conference in the Philippines. He has so far said the US would defend Israel if it was attacked and that he did not think a wider war in the Middle East was inevitable.

• There are fears that the deaths could escalate tensions between Israel, Hezbollah and Iran, threatening the US’ global diplomatic effort to prevent a full-blown regional conflict.

9.33am BST

The Times of Israel is reporting that Ismail Haniyeh ’s funeral will be held in the Qatari capital Doha on Friday. It cites reports from the Saudi-owned Al Hadath news channel.

The Guardian has been unable to verify the report.

9.24am BST

Iran's Khamenei says avenging Haniyeh's killing is 'Tehran's duty'

Avenging Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh ’s assassination is “Tehran’s duty” because it occurred in the Iranian capital, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday.

According to Reuters, Khamenei said Israel had provided the grounds for “harsh punishment” for itself.

“We consider his revenge as our duty,” he said.

There has been no immediate comment from Israel on the strike, which took place hours after Haniyeh attended the inauguration ceremony for Iran’s new president.

Updated at 10.03am BST

9.19am BST

Qatar warns of 'chaos' while Turkey say Haniyeah attack 'aims to spread' Gaza war to 'a regional dimension'

Haniyeh was based in Qatar , which has been a mediator in the Gaza conflict, but also spent time in Turkey after going into exile in 2017. Qatar’s foreign ministry called the killing a “heinous crime” and “shameful assassination”.

According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the ministry said the strike in Tehran was a “dangerous escalation” and “a flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law”.

“This assassination and the reckless Israeli behaviour of continuously targeting civilians in Gaza will lead to the region slipping into chaos and undermine the chances of peace”.

Turkey echoed the condemnation. “We condemn the assassination of the leader of Hamas’s political office, Ismail Haniyeh, in a shameful assassination in Tehran,” the foreign ministry said, adding that “this attack also aims to spread the Gaza war to a regional dimension”.

“Once again the [Benjamin] Netanyahu government has shown that it has no intention of achieving peace,” the ministry said. “If the international community does not take measures to stop Israel, our region will face much larger conflicts.”

Updated at 9.20am BST

9.06am BST

Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan said he was "deeply saddened" to hear about the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh , adding that he had become a symbol of Palestinian resistance.

"He had devoted his life to the Palestinian cause, and to bringing peace and tranquility to Palestine," Fidan said on social media platform X, sharing a photograph of himself and Haniyeh.

“We are witness to the efforts he has made recently to achieve a ceasefire. Even when his family members were massacred by Israel, he never lost his belief in peace,” he added.

8.54am BST

Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders has welcomed the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.

“Good Riddance!!” the leader of the Party for Freedom wrote on social media, in addition to a warning for Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah.

“Khamenei, Nasrallah. The ones in charge. They will not be too happy now and probably not sleep too well either,” Wilders said.

Updated at 9.21am BST

8.44am BST

Lebanon expects Hezbollah to retaliate for Israeli strike on Beirut, minister says

Lebanon expects Hezbollah to retaliate for an Israeli strike that targeted the armed group's most senior military commander in Beirut, and the government will engage in diplomatic efforts to calm tensions, information minister Ziad Makary said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting to discuss the previous evening's strike on a Beirut suburb, Makary said the cabinet is worried that the situation could spiral.

Israel claimed it killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fuad Shukur , in an airstrike on a south Beirut suburb launched in retaliation for a rocket attack that killed 12 children at the weekend.

8.39am BST

Iran will 'defend it's territorial integrity' after Haniyeh assassination in Tehran, president says

Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said the country will "defend its territorial integrity, dignity, honor, and pride, and will make the terrorist occupiers regret their cowardly act" of assassinating Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday.

He did not elaborate in his statement that was carried by Iranian media.

8.24am BST

Qatar and China are the latest countries to condemn the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Qatar's foreign ministry said the killing of Haniyeh was a dangerous escalation.

The Chinese foreign ministry said that the incident could lead to further regional instability.

7.54am BST

Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah issued its condolences on Wednesday after Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed overnight in the Iranian capital Tehran, Reuters reports.

Hezbollah did not specifically accuse Israel but said it would make Iran-aligned groups more determined to confront Israel.

7.34am BST

Nournews, an outlet affiliated with Iran’s top security body the Supreme national security council has said the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran early on Wednesday was “a dangerous gamble to undermine Tehran’s deterrence”.

“Crossing red lines has always been costly for the enemy,” Nournews added.

Updated at 7.38am BST

7.13am BST

A bit of analysis courtesy of New York Times correspondent Farnaz Fassihi:

And a bit extra from Vali Nasr, a professor of Middle Eastern studies at the University of John Hopkins-SAIS:

7.08am BST

Haniyeh assassination took place at about 2am, Iran state media reports

The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh took place at around 2am while he was staying at a residence for war veterans, Iranian state media is reporting. So far little detail as come out about the exact circumstances of the killing.

Nour News reported that the building was hit by an “airborne projectile” and that “further investigations are underway to determine the details of this terrorist operation”, according to Reuters.

7.03am BST

Who was Ismail Haniyeh?

Hamas has described the killing of its political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, as a grave escalation that will not go unanswered. His assassination in Iran will be perceived as a serious blow to efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, as talks mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt stagger forward after months of negotiations.

Haniyeh had long served as the head of Hamas’ politburo, and was seen as a moderate figure within the movement, one whose role had become vital in sustained diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire.

He was elected as the head of the political wing in 2017, before leaving Gaza for exile in Qatar two years later. From exile he became the face of the Palestinian group’s international diplomacy, shuttling between Turkey, Iran and Qatar, joining a group of Hamas leaders sheltering in Doha and unable to return to Gaza. Even so, Haniyeh was seen as a key line of communication with hardline figures like Yahya Sinwar in Gaza.

Arab diplomats and officials had viewed him as relatively pragmatic compared with other more militant voices, inside Gaza and he was described by some experts as leading the political battle for Hamas with regional governments in the Middle East.

Haniyeh’s allies and even former rivals stepped in to condemn the assassination on Wednesday, amid fears that his death during a visit to Tehran could provoke a broader response.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas called the killing “a cowardly act and a serious escalation.” The Turkish foreign ministry called the assassination “heinous.”

Read on below:

Related: Explained: Who is Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political chief killed in Iran

6.56am BST

Israeli military extends detention of soldiers accused of sexual abuse of Palestinian detainee

The Israeli military says it has extended the detention of eight soldiers detained on suspicion of sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee from Gaza.

It said the court stated that there was evidence to substantiate a “reasonable suspicion that the injury to the detainee occurred at the hands of the detainees [soldiers]”. In an X post the IDF said:

The military court accepted the request of the military prosecution and extended the detention of eight suspects until Sunday, August 4. In its decision, the court stated that evidence was presented in the petitions which substantiates a reasonable suspicion that the injury to the detainee occurred at the hands of the detainees.

The court also said that “it is forbidden to harm detainees unnecessarily, no matter how serious their crimes may be,” according to the IDF.

6.44am BST

Top Hezbollah commander was in building at time of Israeli strike, group says

Lebanon’s Hezbollah has said that its senior military commander Fuad Shukr was in the Beirut building targeted by an Israeli strike on Tuesday, but has not confirmed his fate.

Israel claimed it had killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fuad Shukur, in an airstrike on a south Beirut suburb launched in retaliation for a rocket attack that killed 12 children at the weekend. Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the weekend attack.

Three people, including two children, were killed and 74 people injured in the Israeli attack on Beirut, the Lebanese ministry of health said.

Shukur, also known as Hajj Mohsin, served as right hand man to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Israel’s military spokesperson R Adm Daniel Hagari claimed.

An adviser for planning and directing wartime operations, Shukur was responsible for most of Hezbollah’s advanced weaponry, including precise-guided missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, long-range rockets, and UAVs, Israel said.

He also had a $5m (£3.9m) bounty on his head in America over his role in the 1983 bombing of a US marine barracks in the Lebanese capital.

6.34am BST

Israel has 'no intention of achieving peace', Turkey says

Turkey has condemned Haniyeh’s assassination and said the attack aimed to spread the war in Gaza on a regional level, Reuters reports, citing a statement from the foreign ministry. Apparently blaming Israel for the attack, the statement also said:

It has been revealed once again that the government of [Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has no intention of achieving peace.

6.29am BST

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kan’ani has said Haniyeh’s killing will “strengthen the deep and unbreakable bond between the Islamic Republic of Iran and dear Palestine and the Resistance,” according to Iran’s Mehr news agency.

He said the “incident” was being investigated.

6.27am BST

Iran’s Irna news agency has posted video of what would have been some of Haniyeh’s last public moments on Tuesday:

6.24am BST

Key event

US defense secretary Lloyd Austin has held a press conference in the Philippines. He has so far said the US would defend Israel if it was attacked and that he did not think a wider war in the Middle East was inevitable.

His remarks come after Israel claimed on Tuesday to have killed the Hezbollah commander who it said was behind a deadly strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Reuters reported.

Asked also if he could confirm information about another strike that killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran on Wednesday, Austin said: “I don’t have any additional information to provide”.

Updated at 6.48am BST

6.21am BST

Summary

If you’re just joining us, here’s what we know so far:

• Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed, according to Hamas and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Israel has yet to make any comment on Haniyeh’s killing but in its statement, Hamas accused Israel of the attack. Associated Press reports that analysts on Iranian state television have also begun blaming Israel for the attack.

• The Hamas statement said the group mourned Haniyeh “who died as a result of a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran, after participating in the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president”.

• The assassination was reported on Iranian State TV early on Wednesday morning. In a statement, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said “The cause and dimensions of this incident are being investigated and the results will be announced later.”

• Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Haniyeh had been targeted in his residence along with an Iranian bodyguard. It said he had been in Iran to attend the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian and that the circumstances of the “incident” was being investigated.

• Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk said Haniyeh’s death “cowardly act that will not go unpunished” , according to the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV. Another Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri has told Reuters that the killing is a grave escalation that will not achieve its goals.

• Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of Yemen’s Houthi Supreme Revolutionary Committee called Haniyeh’s killing a “heinous terrorist crime”, according to Reutersand “a flagrant violation of laws and ideal values.”

• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has strongly condemned the killing, Palestinian state news agency Wafa reported. Palestinian national and Islamic factions have also called for a general strike and mass demonstrations in response to the assassination.

• Although Israel has not formally commented, several Israeli ministers have reacted to Haniyeh’s assassination. The heritage minister, Amichay Eliyahu, celebrated his killing, writing on X : “Haniyeh’s death makes the world a little better” and that this is the “right way to clean the world from this filth”.

• Shlomo Karhi, minister of communications, wrote on X: “Yes, all your enemies will perish, O God”, although the post appeared later to have been deleted.

• Amichai Chikli, minister of diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, posted a video of the Hamas leader on X with the caption, “Careful What You Wish For”.

• Haniyeh was the exiled political chief of the militant group and had spent much of his time in recent years in Qatar. During the Israel-Gaza war he had acted as a negotiator in the ceasefire talks and liased with Hamas’s main ally, Iran. He was photographed in Tehran on Tuesday meeting with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and secretary general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, Ziyad al-Nakhalah.

• Haniyeh’s death came just hours after Israel claimed it killed Hezbollah’s top military commander , Fuad Shukur, in an airstrike on a south Beirut suburb launched in retaliation for a rocket attack that killed 12 children at the weekend.

• There are fears that the deaths could escalate tensions between Israel, Hezbollah and Iran, threatening the US’ global diplomatic effort to prevent a full-blown regional conflict.

6.18am BST

The killing of Ismail Haniyeh is an “absolutely unacceptable political assassination”, the Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov has told the state news agency Ria. He said:

This is an absolutely unacceptable political murder, and it will lead to further escalation of tensions.

Bogdanov said the killing would also have a negative impact on ceasefire talks in Gaza, Ria added.

Updated at 6.45am BST

6.11am BST

Israeli military 'conducting situation assessment', military says

The Israeli military’s spokesperson Daniel Hagari has posted an update on his X account, saying there are “no changes in the home defence policy”. He says further:

At this time, the IDF is conducting a situation assessment. If any changes are decided, we will update the public immediately on the platforms of the IDF and the Home Front Command. You must stay informed and act according to the instructions of the Home Front Command.

In a separate post, the military said it had “successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target” coming from Lebanon overnight.

Updated at 6.15am BST

6.07am BST

While all eyes are on the killing of Haniyeh in Iran, the Associated Press reports that a strike on Tuesday night on a base southwest of Baghdad killed four members of the Kataib Hezbollah militia, citing Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iranian-backed militias.

The group accused the US of being behind the strike.

Kataib Hezbollah, along with some of the other militias, has in recent months carried out attacks against bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for Washington’s support for Israel in the war in Gaza. US officials did not immediately comment.

5.59am BST

Iran's supreme national security council has convened – report

Iran’s supreme national security council has met with senior commanders from the Revolutionary Guards to discuss Haniyeh’s assassination, a source has told Reuters.

Israel has refrained from killing Hamas leaders in Qatar recently, where the exiled Haniyeh was based; the fact that he was in Tehran when he was targeted is therefore noteworthy.

5.56am BST

Several Israeli ministers have reacted to Haniyeh’s assassination, although Israel has not formally commented on it yet.

The heritage minister, Amichay Eliyahu , celebrated his killing, writing on X : “Haniyeh’s death makes the world a little better” and that this is the “right way to clean the world from this filth”.

Shlomo Karhi , minister of communications, wrote on X: “Yes, all your enemies will perish, O God”, although it later appeared to have been deleted.

Amichai Chikli , minister of diaspora affairs and combating anti-semitism, posted a video of the Hamas leader on X with the caption “Careful What You Wish For”.

5.51am BST

Abbas condemns Haniyeh killing, Palestinian factions call for general strike

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has strongly condemned the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Palestinian state news agency Wafa is reporting, calling it a “cowardly act and [a] dangerous development”.

Abbas also called on Palestinians “to unite, be patient and steadfast in the face of the Israeli occupation”, Wafa said, according to Al Jazeera.

Palestinian national and Islamic factions have called for a general strike and mass demonstrations in response to the assassination.

Updated at 6.09am BST

5.42am BST

Israel has a long history of assassinating Palestinian leaders and activists, including Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin in 2004, his Hamas co-founder Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi in 2004 and co-founder of the Fatah party Abu Jihad in 1988.

Earlier this month it attempted to kill Mohammed Deif in an airstrike on Khan Younis that levelled several buildings in Khan Younis and killed 90 people. Deif was one of the masterminds of the 7 October attack on Israel.

But it remains unclear whether Deif is dead; he had survived at least seven Israeli assassination attempts.

Updated at 5.59am BST

5.33am BST

Here’s a bit more on Haniyeh’s background, courtesy of Reuters:

As a young man, Haniyeh was a student activist at the Islamic University in Gaza City. He joined Hamas when it was created in the First Palestinian intifada (uprising) in 1987. He was arrested and briefly deported.

Haniyeh became a protégé of Hamas’ founder Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, who like Haniyeh’s family, was a refugee from the village of Al Jura near Ashkelon.

In 1994, he told Reuters that Yassin was a model for young Palestinians, saying: “We learned from him love of Islam and sacrifice for this Islam and not to kneel down to these tyrants and despots.”

By 2003 he was a trusted Yassin aide, photographed in Yassin’s Gaza home holding a phone to the almost completely paralysed Hamas founder’s ear so that he could take part in a conversation. Yassin was assassinated by Israel in 2004.

Haniyeh was an early advocate of Hamas entering politics. In 1994, he said that forming a political party “would enable Hamas to deal with emerging developments”.

Initially overruled by the Hamas leadership, it was later approved and Haniyeh become Palestinian prime minister after the group won Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006 a year after Israel’s military withdrew from Gaza.

The group took control of Gaza in 2007.

In 2012, when asked by Reuters reporters if Hamas had abandoned the armed struggle, Haniyeh replied “of course not” and said resistance would continue “in all forms - popular resistance, political, diplomatic and military resistance”.

5.26am BST

Broadcaster Al-Jazeera has posted a full copy of Hamas’ statement on Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination. Here it is:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful (And do not think that those who are killed in the way of Allah are dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision.)

The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas mourns to our great Palestinian people, to the Arab and Islamic nation, and to all the free people of the world: Brother, leader, martyr, Mujahid Ismail Haniyeh.

The head of the movement, who was killed in a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran, after participating in the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president. To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return. And it is a jihad, victory or martyrdom.

5.22am BST

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of Yemen’s Houthi Supreme Revolutionary Committee, has called Haniyeh’s killing a “heinous terrorist crime” according to Reuters:

Targeting Ismail Haniyeh is a heinous terrorist crime and a flagrant violation of laws and ideal values.

5.18am BST

Haniyeh has previously said that 60 of his relatives had been killed since the start of the war triggered by Hamas’s deadly attacks on southern Israel in October.

Most recently, in April he said three of his sons and at least two grandchildren had been killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza . Israel’s military confirmed it had targeted Haniyeh’s sons, who it described as “three Hamas operatives” who were “on their way to carry out terrorist activities”.

Haniyeh said at the time: “All our people and all the families of Gaza have paid a heavy price in blood, and I am one of them.”

5.12am BST

Here’s the Guardian’s full report on the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh from our correspondent Emma Graham-Harrison:

Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, has been targeted and killed in Tehran , the group said in a statement early on Wednesday morning.

The Hamas statement said the group mourned Haniyeh “who died as a result of a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran, after participating in the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president”.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard confirmed the assassination, which was reported on Iranian State TV early on Wednesday morning, with analysts also claiming Israel killed Haniyeh, the AP said.

The Israeli military declined to comment. Israel has a history of covert assassinations inside Iran, mostly hitting scientists working on the country’s nuclear programme.

The death of Haniyeh is damaging to Hamas, but he was not involved in the military operations on the ground in Gaza , and the group has survived past assassinations of its leadership.

In 2004, Israel killed both Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin and co-founder Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi in attacks in Gaza.

Haniyeh’s death came just hours after Israel claimed it killed Hezbollah’s top military commander , Fuad Shukur, in an airstrike on a south Beirut suburb launched in retaliation for a rocket attack that killed 12 children at the weekend.

Related: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in raid on Iran residence, says Palestinian group

5.06am BST

The death of Haniyeh is damaging to Hamas, but he was not involved in the military operations on the ground in Gaza , and the group has survived past assassinations of its leadership.

In 2004, Israel killed both Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin and co-founder Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi in attacks in Gaza.

Haniyeh’s death came just hours after Israel claimed it killed Hezbollah’s top military commander , Fuad Shukur, in an airstrike on a south Beirut suburb launched in retaliation for a rocket attack that killed 12 children at the weekend.

The US had been leading a global diplomatic effort to prevent tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, which is backed by Tehran, from escalating into full blown regional conflict.

The two assassinations now raise the stakes not just for Hamas and Hezbollah, but Iran, which backs both groups.

Updated at 5.08am BST

5.00am BST

Haniyeh's assassination a grave escalation, Hamas official says

The assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran is a grave escalation that will not achieve its goals, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri has told Reuters:

This assassination by the Israeli occupation of Brother Haniyeh is a grave escalation that aims to break the will of Hamas and the will of our people and achieve fake goals. We confirm that this escalation will fail to achieve its objectives.

Hamas is a concept and an institution and not persons. Hamas will continue on this path regardless of the sacrifices and we are confident of victory.

Updated at 5.19am BST

4.56am BST

A few more photos of Ismail Haniyeh from over the years:

4.47am BST

Ismail Haniyeh assassination in Iran is a “cowardly act that will not go unpunished”, Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV has cited senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk as saying.

4.46am BST

Hamas’ leadership arrangements can be opaque to outsiders. Ismail Haniyeh was officially the chair of the group’s political political bureau and lived in exile, while Yahya Sinwar is the leader of Hamas in Gaza and was reportedly the mastermind of the 7 October attack on Israel. Khaled Mashal is also a prominent Hamas political leader who lives in exile.

My colleague, Jason Burke, wrote an explainer on Hamas’ strength and the possibility of a Gaza ceasefire at the end of last year and in it he delved into Hamas’ leadership structure. Here’s an excerpt:

In theory, Hamas is run by a leadership council or “shura’” drawn from regional councils elected by Hamas members in Gaza, the West Bank and by prisoners in Israeli jails. In reality, the organisation is riven by factional disputes and personality clashes.

One split divides the military from the political wings. Another pits the leaders in Gaza, who have lived for decades in the crosshairs of Israel’s security agencies or spent years in Israeli jails, against senior figures overseas in Qatar, Turkey, Lebanon or elsewhere who live in relative comfort and security.

This is aggravated by personality clashes. Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, is said to be barely on speaking terms with Khaled Mashal, who is the best-known of the organisation’s political leaders and based in Qatar.

It is unclear if Sinwar briefed the political leadership in Qatar and Lebanon on the planned 7 October attacks but this is thought unlikely by experts – adding to the resentment.

The relatively pragmatic Ismail Haniyeh, the chair of Hamas’s political bureau, tries to mediate among the factions, though with little success, experts say.

Haniyeh also has his own job to do. “Haniyeh is leading the political battle for Hamas with Arab governments,” said Adeeb Ziadeh, a specialist in Palestinian affairs at Qatar University. “He is the political and diplomatic front of Hamas.”

The internal disputes complicate this task. In recent weeks, Haniyeh has moved between Turkey and Qatar’s capital, Doha, escaping the travel restrictions of the blockaded Gaza Strip and enabling him to act as a negotiator in the earlier ceasefire deal or talk to Hamas’s main ally, Iran.

But the final yes or no comes from Sinwar. When during recent talks Sinwar decided to cut off communications, negotiations stalled. “This pretty effectively underlined who is calling the shots,” said one European diplomatic source briefed the negotiations.

Updated at 4.48am BST

4.38am BST

Here is the full statement from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards:

With condolences to the heroic nation of Palestine and the Islamic nation and the fighters of the resistance front and the noble nation of Iran, this morning [Wednesday] the residence of Mr. Dr. Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political office of the Islamic resistance of Hamas, was hit in Tehran, and following this incident, he and one of his bodyguards was martyred.

The cause and dimensions of this incident are being investigated and the results will be announced later.

4.33am BST

Israel has yet to make any comment on Ismail Haniyeh’s killing but in its statement Hamas accused it of responsibility. Associated Press reports that analysts on Iranian state television have also begun blaming Israel for the attack. The agency writes:

Israel itself did not immediately comment but it often doesn’t when it comes to assassinations carried out by their Mossad intelligence agency.

Israel is suspected of running a years-long assassination campaign targeting Iranian nuclear scientists and others associated with its atomic program.

In 2020, a top Iranian military nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun while traveling in a car outside Tehran.

4.28am BST

Here is some of the last images of Ismail Haniyeh – he was photographed in Tehran on Tuesday meeting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (R) and secretary general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement Ziyad al-Nakhalah (L).

Updated at 4.29am BST

4.22am BST

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Iran, group says

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in Tehran, the Palestinian militant group Hamas has said.

In a statement, the Islamist faction mourned the death of Haniyeh, who it said was killed in “a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran”.

Earlier, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said he had been targeted in his residence along with an Iranian bodyguard. It said he had been in Iran to attend the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian. It said it was investigating the circumstances of the “incident”.

Israel has yet to comment on his killing.

Haniyeh was the exiled political chief of the militant group and had spent much of his time in recent years in Qatar and Turkey. Considered a pragmatist, he had acted as a negotiator in the ceasefire talks during the Israel-Gaza war, liaised with Hamas’s main ally, Iran, and met with the Turkish president.

Haniyeh was also said to maintain good relations with the heads of the various Palestinian factions, including rivals to Hamas.

Haniyeh was elected head of the Hamas political bureau in 2017 to succeed Khaled Meshaal, but was already a well-known figure having become Palestinian prime minister in 2006 following an upset victory by Hamas in that year’s parliamentary election.

Updated at 5.03am BST

4.17am BST

Opening summary

Welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in Iran, the militant group has confirmed in a statement.

Earlier, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said he had been targeted in his residence along with an Iranian bodyguard. It said he had been in Iran to attend the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian. It said it was investigating the circumstances of the “incident”.

Haniyeh was the exiled political chief of the militant group and had spent much of his time in recent years in Qatar.

Here is a summary of the latest developments.

• Israel says it has killed Hezbollah’s top military commander , Fuad Shukur, in an airstrike on a south Beirut suburb launched in retaliation for a rocket attack that killed 12 children at the weekend . Shukur, also known as Hajj Mohsin, served as right hand man to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Israel’s military spokesperson R Adm Daniel Hagari said in a briefing on Tuesday night.

• US defence secretary Lloyd Austin does not believe that a fight between Israel and Hezbollah is inevitable , and said Washington would like to see things resolved in a diplomatic fashion, Reuters reports. “While we’ve seen a lot of activity on Israel’s northern border, we remain concerned about the potential of this escalating into a full-blown fight. And I don’t believe that a fight is inevitable,” Austin said. “We’d like to see things resolved in a diplomatic fashion.” Austin made the comments on Tuesday at a joint press conference in Manila.

• Israel’s military has charged a reservist with aggravated abuse of Palestinian prisoners, a spokesperson said on Tuesday, as nine other soldiers appeared in military court for an initial hearing over allegations they had sexually abused a detainee from Gaza . The other soldiers detained on Monday are accused of raping and attacking a Palestinian prisoner at the Sde Teiman detention centre so violently that he was taken to hospital in critical condition, Israeli media reported.

• Gaza official says 300 people were killed in Israel’s assault on Khan Younis . Thousands of Palestinians returned home on Tuesday after the assault came to an end. Gaza’s civil defence agency said Tuesday that the Israeli operation in and around the city killed about 300 people since it began last week.

• Two air defence bases in southern Syria have been struck by Israeli missiles, a war monitor has said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported no casualties in the overnight strikes in Daraa province, which abuts the armistice line separating Syrian and Israeli forces on the Golan.

• Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday called on Israel not to fall into the “trap” of retaliation, saying she was “very, very worried” by the situation in Lebanon and by the risk of a regional escalation. Speaking during an official visit to China, Meloni said the international community should continue sending messages of moderation, and that China could help in these efforts, having “solid ties” with Iran and Saudi Arabia.