The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps stated that the cause of the incident is still under investigation, according to AFP news agency.

Haniyeh was a prominent figure in the Hamas movement since the late 1980s. He was imprisoned by Israel in 1989 for three years during a crackdown on the first Palestinian uprising and was exiled to a no-man's-land between Israel and Lebanon in 1992, along with other Hamas leaders.

In 2006, Haniyeh was appointed Palestinian prime minister by President Mahmoud Abbas after Hamas won the majority of seats in national elections. However, he was dismissed a year later following violent clashes between Hamas and Fatah, leading to Hamas taking control of the Gaza Strip. Despite his dismissal, Haniyeh continued to rule in Gaza, rejecting his sacking as unconstitutional and reaffirming his commitment to the Palestinian people.

Haniyeh became the head of Hamas's political bureau in 2017 and was designated a terrorist by the US Department of State in 2018. He had been living in Qatar for the past several years before his death.