Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh killed in Iran and stoking fears of a wider Middle East war
By Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Parisa Hafezi
CAIRO/DUBAI on July 31, (Reuters) CAIRO/DUBAI, July 31 (Reuters) Hamas president Ismail Haniyeh was murdered early Wednesday, in Iran which is Iran, the Palestinian militant organization and Tehran claimed, provoking threats of vengeance against Israel within a zone that is already affected by the conflict in Gaza and a escalating tensions in Lebanon.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards confirmed the death of Haniyeh just hours after his attendance at a swearing-in ceremony to be the nation’s new president. They also said that it was conducting an investigation.
Haniyeh usually based in Qatar is the Hamas’s face on international diplomatic efforts as the war that was triggered by the Hamas-led strike against Israel at the end of October. 7 has been raging in Gaza.
Hamas the armed wing of Hamas said that the killing of Haniyeh will “take the war to new heights and cause massive implications” as Iran is also vowing to respond.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Israel had given the basis for “harsh punishment against itself” and that it was Iran’s responsibility to bring vengeance on this Hamas leader’s death, which occurred within Tehran, the Iranian capital. Iranian forces had previously carried out attacks directly against Israel during the Gaza conflict.
There was no response or any claim of responsibility from Israel. The Israeli military claimed that it was looking into the situation but it had not issued some new guidelines for security to civilians.
The Prime PM Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to consult with security officials around 4:00 p.m. (1300 GMT).
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington will work to ease tensions, but also said it was the United States would help defend Israel in the event of an attack.
“I do not think war is unavoidable. I’m convinced. I believe there is always room and possibilities for diplomacy” the reporter was told during a trip in the Philippines.
The assassination that occurred just 24 hours after Israel said that it killed the Hezbollah commander it claimed was responsible for an fatal hit in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, could hinder an imminent ceasefire in the war that has lasted for 10 months Gaza.
“This assassination triggered by an Israeli military of Brother Haniyeh is a grave expansion that seeks to break the desire for Hamas,” senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
He added that Hamas was which was the Palestinian Islamist group that ruled Gaza prior to the Israeli assault, would maintain the same path it had been following.
“We believe in winning,” he said.
Qatar which has been in the process of negotiating talks to stop the violence in Gaza it condemned Haniyeh’s murder as a risky step towards escalating the war.
China, Russia and Turkey were also among those who condemned it.
Iran’s top security organization was gathered to discuss Iran’s strategy in the wake of the demise of Haniyeh an friend of Tehran an insider who is aware of the situation said.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the murder and Palestinian factions within the Israeli-occupied West Bank called for a strike and massive demonstrations.
PUBLIC FACE of HAMAS
The assassination of Haniyeh occurs as Israel’s military campaign in Gaza is nearing the close of its 10th month and there is no indication of an end to a conflict that is threatening to turn into a larger conflict in the region. The ceasefire talks mediated between Egypt and Qatar seem to have stalled.
However the threat of conflict in the region between Israel with Hezbollah has grown since the attack that occurred in the Golan Heights that claimed the lives of 12 children from the Druze village last Saturday, and the subsequent murder of top Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr.
Hezbollah hasn’t yet confirmed the death of Shukr, but they said he was in the area hit with the Israeli strike.
The International Criminal Court prosecutor’s office asked for the issuance of an an arrest warrant for Haniyeh in connection with possible war crimes, while it also issued an identical request to Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu.
Nominated to the Hamas highest position in 2017 by Hamas, he’s been able to move between Turkey and Qatar’s capital city Doha in order to avoid the restrictions on travel in the largely occupied Gaza Strip and enabling him to play a role as an intermediary in ceasefire negotiations or engage with Hamas its partner Iran. His sons, three of them killed during the course of an Israeli strike in the month of April.
His death, which occurred following the murder of his deputy Saleh Al-Arouri in January by Israel and Israel, leaves Yehya Al-Sinwar, the Hamas head of Hamas’s Gaza Strip and the architect of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel as well as Zaher Jabarin, who is the leader of Hamas within the West Bank, in place but hiding.
The conflict began on Oct. 7 when the Hamas-led forces overcame security barriers around Gaza and launched a savage assault on Israeli communities near by that killed more than 1,200 people, and taking hostages of around 250 into Gaza as a result of Israeli tallies.
In reaction, Israel launched a relentless air and ground assault in the coastal enclave, which caused the deaths of more than 39,400 in the estimation of Gaza health officials. It has also left over 2 million people facing an emergency situation.
