China condemns assassination of Hamas chief Haniyeh

ISTANBUL

China on Wednesday condemned the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the slain political chief of Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

"We firmly oppose and condemn any assassination and violent act and we are deeply concerned about the potential increase in regional instability due to this incident," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Haniyeh's assassination in Tehran.

Beijing is "closely monitoring the situation," Lin added, according to Chinese state media.

Haniyeh’s assassination comes amid Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza now nearing the end of its 10th month.

Hamas said earlier on Wednesday that Haniyeh, the head of its political bureau, was killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting his residence in the Iranian capital.

It called the assassination a "treacherous Zionist raid."

The slain Palestinian leader had participated in the inauguration ceremony of Iran's new president on Tuesday, before he was assassinated.

Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also confirmed the incident.

No immediate announcement has been made by Israel on the incident.

According to Iranian Mehr News, the assassination took place at around 2 a.m. local time (2230GMT Tuesday).

Haniyeh was "stationed in one of the residences for war veterans in the north of Tehran," it reported.

The Palestinian leader was "martyred after a projectile hit his place of residence," the report added.