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Hamas blamed Israel and the US for the killing of the group's political leader Ismail Haniyeh in a strike in Tehran, warning the attack marks a new escalation that will have “major repercussions” for the Middle East.
The shocking assassination of Mr Haniyeh in a guarded guest house in the north of the Iranian capital early Wednesday, came hours after senior Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr was targeted in an Israeli strike on the Beirut suburb of Dahieh on Tuesday evening.
The Israeli targeting of the military commander in Beirut and the assassination of the Palestinian leader within less than 24 hours suggest that the coming months will likely see a fiercer cycle of retaliation and violence in parts of the Middle East.
The region is already experiencing a devastating Israeli war in the Gaza Strip, which has escalated into a regional conflict involving states and militant groups from Yemen and Iraq to Lebanon and Syria.
The killing of Mr Haniyeh after he attended an inauguration ceremony for the new Iranian president, was announced by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which said it was investigating the incident.
Mr Haniyeh was killed in an air strike at about 2am on a home for war veterans in the north of the capital, it said. The missile was not launched from inside Iran, Iranian sources told the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen news outlet.
A funeral procession will be held in Tehran on Thursday, before his body is transferred to Doha, Hamas has confirmed. Funeral prayers will be held in the Qatari capital on Friday afternoon, before the burial in Lusail's Imam Founder Cemetery.
Wide regional war
The Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, denounced the “cowardly Israeli assassination” as a “critical and dangerous event that takes the battle to new dimensions”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “leading Israel towards the abyss”, it said in a statement.
“The enemy has miscalculated by expanding the circle of aggression and assassinating resistance leaders in various arenas and violating the sovereignty of the countries of the region,” it said. “It is time for this Israeli rampage to stop, for this raging enemy to be curbed.”
Hamas official Mahmoud Taha told The National that the assassination was carried out to put pressure on the group to accept Israeli conditions for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
“This crime will be paid dearly by the Israeli army,” he added, warning that “this development may lead to a wide regional war," and that "Washington must bear the consequences of this escalation”.
“The Israeli army carried out this operation with an American green light, and the American administration bears responsibility,” he added. “This a cowardly act. All scenarios are possible to respond to this assassination.”
The US said it was not aware nor involved in the assassination, with its Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, telling reporters in Singapore it was “hard to speculate” on the consequences of the Hamas leader's death.
Ceasefire talks
The Israeli army said it would not comment on foreign media reports, but it has in the past been blamed for assassinating government-linked figures and foreign militants in Tehran.
The assassination threatens to derail months-long efforts by mediators to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, where about 39,400 people have been killed and more than 90,000 wounded since October. Mr Haniyeh was the main negotiator.
Talks between Israel and Hamas have completely broken down, Hamas sources told The National on Wednesday afternoon.
“Right now everything is suspended,” said an exiled Hamas representative in Lebanon.
“Negotiations were faltering even before the cowardly assassination,” a second Hamas source said. “We cannot discuss negotiations because the Zionist enemy has assassinated and killed those with whom it is negotiating.”
Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed that Israel will face a “harsh punishment” for the attack, saying it is Tehran’s duty to “avenge his blood”.
“With this action, the criminal and terrorist Zionist regime prepared the ground for harsh punishment for itself,” Mr Khamenei said in a statement shared by the Irna news agency.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was filmed embracing Mr Haniyeh hours before his death, said Iran was in mourning for the “brave leader”.
Tehran will “defend its territorial integrity … and make the terrorist invaders regret their cowardly action”, he added.
Key meditators, regional leaders and militant groups have condemned Mr Haniyeh's killing and Israel's pattern of escalation across the Middle East, while shops in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank were shut and hundreds poured into the streets in protest.
Public mourning has been declared in Iran and Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
Qatar, Mr Haniyeh's longtime base, said Israel's “reckless behaviour” risked undermining any chance for peace and may push the region into further chaos. It called the killing a “dangerous escalation and blatant violation of international and humanitarian law”.
Doha repeated “its firm position against violence, terrorism and criminal acts, including political assassinations, whatever the motives or reasons”.
Israel has launched attacks on senior Hamas officials across the region, assassinating deputy leader Saleh Al Arouri in Beirut in January.
Mr Haniyeh said at the time that the killing “was a terrorist act … that shall make us stronger”.
His three sons and several grandchildren were also killed in April in an Israeli strike on Al Shati refugee camp, in Gaza.
Several of Mr Haniyeh's children also reacted to his death.
“We are in a continuous uprising and struggle against the occupying enemy, and the resistance does not end with the assassination of its leaders,” his son Abdulsalam Haniyeh said in comments carried by Iranian state media and Palestinian outlets.
“My father achieved what he wished for,” he added, saying Hamas will continue operations against Israel until Palestine is freed.
Hamas politburo member Musa Abu Marzouq said his killing was a “cowardly act that will definitely not go unanswered”, while official Sami Abu Zuhri said the killing is a “grave escalation” that will “fail to achieve its objectives”.
While Israel has not formally acknowledged the attack, ministers have taken to social media to celebrate his death and say “no more” to any peace agreement.
