TEHRAN – The chief of the political bureau of the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas Ismail Haniyeh was martyred in Tehran early on Wednesday.

Ismail Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were martyred after their residence was targeted in Tehran, according to a statement released by the IRGC.

"With condolences to the heroic nation of Palestine and the Islamic Ummah and the combatants 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 were martyred," the statement reads.

Further investigation into the incident is underway.

Hamas said Haniyeh was assassinated “in a Zionist airstrike on his residence in Tehran” after he attended the swearing-in of Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday.

“Hamas declares to the great Palestinian people and the people of the Arab and Islamic nations and all the free people of the world, brother leader Ismail Ismail Haniyeh a martyr,” Hamas said in a statement, AP reported.

In another statement, the group quoted Haniyeh as saying that the Palestinian cause has “costs” and “we are ready for these costs: martyrdom for the sake of Palestine, and for the sake of God Almighty, and for the sake of the dignity of this nation.”

In the West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Haniyeh’s assassination, calling it a “cowardly act and dangerous development.” Political factions in the occupied territory called for strikes in protest at the killing.

In Israel’s war against Hamas since the October attack, more than 39,360 Palestinians have been killed and more than 90,900 wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, whose count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.