Funeral in Iran of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, killed in an attack attributed to Israel

Iran will hold an official funeral on Thursday for the leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran in a strike blamed on Israel that has raised fears of a regional conflagration.

The Islamic Republic's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will preside over a prayer ceremony in memory of Ismail Haniyeh, whom he hailed as “an outstanding fighter for the Palestinian resistance,” before his burial on Friday in Qatar, where he lived in exile.

The assassination at the age of 61 of the political leader of Hamas, as well as an Israeli strike that killed the military leader of Lebanese Hezbollah, Fouad Chokr, near Beirut on Tuesday, have raised fears of a contagion of the war that has been raging for almost ten months in the Gaza Strip between Israel, Iran's sworn enemy, and Hamas, supported by Tehran.

While all attempts at mediation have failed, the war has inflamed tensions across the Middle East between Israel on the one hand, and on the other hand Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria, including the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday evening that Israel had dealt “severe blows” to its “enemies” in recent days, explicitly mentioning the elimination of Fouad Chokr but without commenting on the attack on Tehran.

Palestinian Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh attends the swearing-in ceremony of Iran's new president, at the Parliament in Tehran, on July 30, 2024 © AFP – –

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday expressed alarm at the attacks in Beirut and Tehran, which “represent a dangerous escalation,” said his spokesman.

Like US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, he called for continued “efforts” to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, at a time when Qatar, the main mediating country, is considering whether to continue mediation.

The United States, Israel's main ally, said that the strikes in Tehran and Beirut “were not helping” to reduce regional tensions, while considering that there was no sign of an “imminent” escalation.

– “Severe punishment” –

People wave the Palestinian flag and a portrait of slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh during a rally at Tehran University in the Iranian capital on July 31, 2024 © AFP – –

Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced on Wednesday the death of Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed along with a bodyguard at his Tehran residence after attending the inauguration ceremony of reformist President Massoud Pezeshkian.

According to Iranian media, he “was in one of the special residences for war veterans in northern Tehran when he was killed by an aerial projectile” at around 02:00 local time (22:30 GMT Tuesday).

The supreme leader promised “severe punishment” after this assassination. “We consider it our duty to avenge his blood shed on the territory of the Islamic Republic,” he said.

Massoud Pezeshkian said that “the Zionists (Israel) would soon see the consequences of their cowardly and terrorist act.”

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Iranian Army Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri said the assassination would “grow the unity of the Islamic resistance front.”

Iran: Hamas leader killed in northern Tehran © AFP – Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA, Omar KAMAL

The Iranian permanent mission to the UN in New York also warned of “special operations” in response to this assassination, which “will cause deep regret in its author”, in a message on X.

On Wednesday, Iranians gathered in several cities to condemn this assassination. There were several hundred of them in Palestine Square in Tehran, waving Palestinian flags and shouting “death to Israel, death to America”.

– “Out of control” –

Palestinians demonstrate in the streets of Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on July 31, 2024, after the announcement of the assassination of the Hamas leader in Iran © AFP – Jaafar ASHTIYEH

Hours before the Tehran attack, the Israeli army announced that it had “eliminated” Fouad Shokr in a strike near Beirut. The Hezbollah military leader is accused by Israel of being responsible for a strike that killed 12 children and teenagers on Saturday in Majdal Shams, on the occupied Syrian Golan.

A source close to Hezbollah confirmed Wednesday that Fouad Shokr's body had been found under the rubble of the targeted building in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of the pro-Iranian movement.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati warned Wednesday that the situation could “get out of control” after the attack near Beirut.

File image of Ismail Haniyeh, then Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, speaking in Gaza City, January 21, 2007 © AFP – Mahmud HAMS

Several airlines have suspended flights to the Lebanese capital. Washington on Wednesday reinforced its “do not travel” recommendation to Lebanon.

Hamas' ally Hezbollah opened a front against Israel on its northern border with Lebanon in the wake of the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian movement on Israeli soil on October 7, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.

This attack resulted in the death of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data.

Of the 251 people kidnapped at the time, 111 are still being held in Gaza, 39 of whom are dead, according to the army.

View of the destruction in Beit Lahia, in the north of the Gaza Strip, on July 29, 2024 © AFP – Omar AL-QATTAA

In response, Israel has promised to destroy Hamas, which has been in power since 2007 in the Gaza Strip and which it considers a terrorist organization, as do the United States and the European Union.

Its army has launched an offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory, which has so far killed 39,445 people, according to data from the Health Ministry of the Hamas-led Gaza government, which does not provide information on the number of civilians and combatants killed.

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