Islamist Palestinian movement Hamas' senior political leader, Khalil al-Hayya (C) accompanied by Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum (R) attend a press conference in Gaza City. (AFP Photo)

GAZA, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- A top Islamic Hamas leader was critically wounded at his home in Gaza city on Tuesday when a gunshot from his personal pistol hit his head, a Hamas spokesman said.

Emad Alami, 59, is in critical condition after he was hit by a gunshot from his personal pistol while he was checking it, Fawzi Barhoum, Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said in an e-mailed press statement.

Alami was Hamas ambassador to Iran during the 1990s and returned to the Gaza Strip in 2011.

He served as deputy chief of Hamas and vice chairman of the movement until the new elections of the group in March last year.

In the war Israel waged on Gaza in 2014, Alami lost his right leg when the underground tunnel he was hiding in was struck by Israeli missiles.