Hamas chief Haniyeh killed in Tehran attack - Iran threatens retaliation
According to Hamas, Haniyeh was killed in his Tehran residence following his participation in the inauguration of new Iranian President Massoud Peschian. "The method will be clarified by our Iranian colleagues who are leading the investigation," added senior Hamas representative Taher al-Nunu.
Al-Nunu was convinced that Israel was responsible for "this assassination," and also blamed the USA. Hamas Political Bureau member Musa Abu Marzouk stated that this "cowardly act" would not go unanswered.
Initially, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said the identity of those who killed Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards in the attack on his residence in Tehran was still under investigation. Later, the Iranian leadership blamed Israel and declared three days of mourning for Haniyeh.
"The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime has paved the way for harsh punishment," said Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to the official news agency Irna. Iran has the "duty to avenge his blood," Khamenei said. Iranian President Peschian wrote on the X service that his country would defend its "territorial integrity" and make the "terrorist intruders" regret their cowardly act.
Haniyeh arrived in Tehran on Tuesday for Peschian's inauguration and met with the new president and Ayatollah Khamenei. Iranian media reported that Haniyeh died on Wednesday around 02:00 local time (00:30 CET) in an air strike on a veterans' residential building in northern Tehran.
On Tuesday, the Israeli army said it had killed the top military commander of Hezbollah in Lebanon, Fuad Shukr, whom it holds responsible for the deadly rocket attack on the Golan Heights. Hezbollah said on Wednesday that Shukr was in the bombed building in a suburb of Beirut, but his fate was unclear. Regarding Haniyeh's killing, Hezbollah said it would "strengthen the resolve" of the allies in the fight against Israel.
Hezbollah, along with the Houthi militia in Yemen and Hamas, belongs to the "Axis of Resistance" called for by Tehran against Israel. Mohammed Ali al-Houthi of the Houthi militia's Political Bureau described Haniyeh's killing as "a heinous terrorist crime."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the act "in the strongest terms" as "a serious escalation." The Palestinian people must continue to "stand firmly against the Israeli occupation," Abbas said.
Palestinian movements in the West Bank spoke of "Zionist state terrorism" and called for a general strike and "marches of wrath" in the Palestinian territories in a joint statement.
The Israeli army declined to comment on reports of Haniyeh's death. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas in the Gaza war following the attack on October 7. According to Israeli figures, 1,197 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip in the attack by Hamas and affiliated Islamic fighters on the southern part of Israel.
Hanija, who became the Palestinian Authority's prime minister in 2006 following Hamas' victory in the parliamentary elections in the Gaza Strip, succeeded Khaled Meshaal as the head of Hamas' political bureau in 2017. He lived in exile, residing in Turkey and Qatar. Hamas announced that Hanija would be buried in Doha after funeral ceremonies in Tehran on Friday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the "underhanded assassination" of his "brother" Hanija on X. The Turkish Foreign Ministry stated: "This attack also aims to escalate the Gaza conflict to an international level." Netanyahu's government has once again shown that "it has no intention of creating peace."
Qatar, one of the mediator countries in the Gaza conflict, condemned the killing of Hanija as an "abhorrent crime" and "dangerous escalation." Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani questioned his mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas. "Political assassinations and continued attacks on civilians in the Gaza Strip while talks continue raise the question of how mediation can succeed if one party assassinates the other's negotiator," he wrote on X.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov described the killing as a "completely unacceptable political assassination" that would lead to "further escalation of tensions," according to the state news agency RIA Novosti. The Syrian Foreign Ministry warned that the killing could "set the entire region ablaze."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Beijing condemned "the assassination" and feared "further instability" in the region. In China, Hamas, Fatah, and other Palestinian groups had agreed last week on a national interim government of "reconciliation" for the post-war period in the Gaza Strip.
The President Massoud Peschian, mentioned in the context of Haniyeh's attendance at his inauguration, is now the Iranian President responsible for leading the investigation into Haniyeh's death.
Following the assassination of Haniyeh, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the spiritual leader of Iran, vowed harsh punishment against the "criminal and terrorist Zionist regime."
