Tehran.- Amid an escalation of violence that ended with the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, the armed wing of the Islamist movement issued a statement on Wednesday warning that the death will have “enormous consequences throughout the region.” “This assassination takes the war to a new level,” the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement.
Haniyeh was one of the top leaders of the jihadist movement who had been directing the group’s movements in Gaza for more than a decade. According to reports from the terrorist group and the Iranian government, the leader was killed by an airstrike in the capital, and they accused Israel of being responsible. The attack took place after Haniyeh attended the inauguration of the new president in Tehran, Masoud Pezeshkian, along with other officials from Hamas, Hezbollah and other allied groups.
“Hamas declares brother leader Ismail Haniyeh a martyr before the great Palestinian people and the peoples of the Arab and Islamic nations and all the free peoples of the world,” the group’s statement said, adding: “The Palestinian cause has costs and we are ready for these costs: martyrdom for the sake of Palestine and for the sake of Almighty God and for the sake of the dignity of this nation.”
Meanwhile, Musa Abu Marzuk, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, said the leader’s murder was an “act of cowardice” that “will not go unpunished.”
In April this year, three of Haniyeh’s sons and three grandsons were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip at a refugee camp in Al-Shati (northwest of Gaza City). According to the IDF and Shin Bet, all of the sons were part of Hamas’s militarized wing and were preparing for an attack.
“Thank God for the honour of my three sons and three grandsons becoming martyrs,” Haniyeh had said upon learning of the deaths, adding that 60 of his relatives had already died “at the hands of Israel” over the past decades.
The government of Qatar – where Haniyeh had been living in exile since 2019 – condemned the murder and called it “a heinous crime”, while warning of a possible “dangerous escalation” in the region. The country – where the political leadership of Hamas, of which the leader was a member, is based – added: “The death constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and humanitarian law.” In a statement signed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they estimated that the event could “plunge the region into chaos and undermine the chances of peace.”
Qatar is acting as a mediator in negotiations for a truce in the Gaza Strip alongside the United States and Egypt. In this context, Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahman al Thani cast doubt on the continuation of this mediation: “Political assassinations and the fact that civilians continue to be targeted in Gaza […] “This leads us to wonder how mediation can be successful when one side kills the other side’s negotiator. Peace needs serious interlocutors.”
Haniyeh’s death could also trigger retaliation against Israel by Iran or its ally Hezbollah.
The Israeli army spokesman has so far declined to comment, despite repeated promises in recent months to eliminate all Hamas leaders following the attack on October 7 last year in which militants killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostage.
Since then, more than 39,360 Palestinians have been killed and more than 90,900 injured by Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, according to the Gaza Strip’s Ministry of Health, whose count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
#Hamas #issues #harsh #warning #assassination #leader #Ismail #Haniyeh
2024-08-04 12:42:58
