Hamas chief killed in Iran, strike fuels fears of retaliation; Israel sounds alert
Cairo/Dubai, July 31
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran early on Wednesday morning, an attack that drew threats of revenge on Israel and fuelled further concern that the conflict in Gaza was turning into a wider Middle East war.
The Palestinian militant group and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed Haniyeh’s death. The Guards said it took place hours after he attended a swearing-in ceremony for Iran’s new president.
‘Can derail Gaza truce efforts’
Qatar and Egypt, which have acted as mediators in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, suggested on Wednesday that the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh could jeopardise efforts to secure a truce in Gaza.
US not involved, says Blinken
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday his country was not involved in the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, and reiterated the importance of a ceasefire in Gaza. “This is something we were not aware of or involved in. It’s very hard to speculate,” Blinken said.
Israel’s history of targeted killings
- April 2024: Two Iranian generals are killed in what Iran said was an Israeli strike on Iran’s consulate in Syria.
- January 2024: An Israeli drone strike in Beirut kills Saleh Arouri, a top Hamas official in exile as Israeli troops fight the militant group in Gaza.
- December 2023: Seyed Razi Mousavi, a longtime adviser of the Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in Syria, is killed in a drone attack outside of Damascus. Iran blames Israel.
- 2019: An Israeli airstrike hits the home of Bahaa Abu el-Atta, a Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza, killing him.
- 2012: Ahmad Jabari, head of Hamas’ armed wing, is killed when an airstrike targets his car.
Although the attack was widely assumed to have been carried out by Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government made no claim of responsibility and said it would not make any comment on the killing.
Haniyeh, normally based in Qatar, had been the face of Hamas’s international diplomacy as the war set off by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 has raged in Gaza. He had been taking part in internationally-brokered indirect talks on reaching a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.
The assassination took place less than 24 hours after Israel claimed to have killed a Hezbollah commander in the Lebanese capital Beirut in retaliation for a deadly strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The latest events appear to set back chances of any imminent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Palestinian Hamas.
Hamas’ armed wing said Haniyeh’s killing would “take the battle to new dimensions and have major repercussions”. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel had provided the grounds for “harsh punishment for itself” and it was Tehran’s duty to avenge the Hamas leader’s death. Iranian forces have already made strikes directly on Israel earlier in the Gaza war.
In Jerusalem, Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer declined to comment on the killing of Haniyeh but said the country was on high alert for any Iranian retaliation. — Reuters
