Hamas leader Hanieyh's killing came hours after top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli air attack on the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital, Beirut, on July 31

Hassan Nasrallah meanwhile was the leader of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah - he was assassinated in Beirut in September as Israel dramatically escalated its military campaign against Hezbollah, with which it had been trading near daily cross-border fire since the day after the 7 October attacks.

Since launching its retaliatory war in Gaza, Israel claims to have eliminated the leaders of militant groups including, Sinwar, the mastermind of the 7 October attack on Israel, and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an airstrike on a building complex in Beirut.

Iran on Tuesday denounced what it termed Israel's "brazen admission" of having killed former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this year, accusing the country of having carried out a "heinous crime" and defending its missile-strike response.

Former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an explosion in a high-security guesthouse in Iran’s capital Tehran in July

In the months that followed, Israel directly attacked Iran, assassinated Nasrallah and invaded southern Lebanon. In November it agreed to a US-backed ceasefire in Lebanon that enshrined its right to unilaterally enforce any alleged violations by Hezbollah.

Ismail Haniyeh led Gaza ceasefire talks when an explosive device planted by Israeli operatives weeks earlier killed him.

Tehran's UN envoy says Jerusalem's 'audacious and shameless confession' of 'heinous' assassination of terror chief affirms legitimacy of its barrage on the country The post After Israel confirms killing Haniyeh,