In a dramatic development that could push Iran and Israel into direct amid intertwined conflicts in the Middle East region, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a predawn airstrike in the Iranian capital Wednesday. Iran and the Palestinian militant group blamed Israel for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh and Iran's supreme leader also vowed "revenge".
Israel and Iran, bitter regional rivals, were at the verge of plunging into a war earlier this year when Israel hit Iran's embassy in Damascus in April. Iran retaliated and Israel countered in an unprecedented exchange of strikes on each other's soil, but international efforts succeeded in containing that cycle before it spun out of control.
Ismail Haniyeh's killing could also prompt Hamas, the group against which Israel launched a war in Gaza after the October 7 attack on southern Israel, to pull out of negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage release deal in the 10-month-old war in Gaza, which US mediators had said were progressing.
According to Al-Jazeera, Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, has issued a statement, calling the killing a “dangerous event” that will have “major repercussions across the entire region”.
Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh Killing | Top Points
Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh Killed: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a predawn airstrike in the Iranian capital Wednesday, Iran and the militant group said. Iranian media showed videos of Haniyeh and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian hugging after Pezeshkian's inauguration ceremony Tuesday. Hours later, the strike hit a residence Haniyeh uses in Tehran, killing him, Hamas said in a statement cited in an Associated Press report.
Israel Blamed: Hamas and Iran blamed Israel for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed revenge against Israel, saying, “We consider his revenge as our duty.” He said Israel had “prepared a harsh punishment for itself” by killing "a dear guest in our home."
What Did Israel Say? An Israeli military spokesman declined to comment, AP reported. Israel often doesn't comment on assassinations carried out by its intelligence agency 'Mossad' or strikes on other countries. If claims of Israel being behind the assassination, Haniyeh's death makes him the latest Hamas official to be killed by the country since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, when militants killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages.
The October 7 Hamas-led siege in southern Israel set off the devastating Israel-Hamas war, which has become the deadliest and longest in the Arab-Israeli conflict. More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to health officials in Gaza.
Did Israel Subtly Admit Assassination? While there was no official confirmation by Israeli authorities, the Israeli government press office posted a photo on its Facebook page of Ismail Haniyeh with “Eliminated” written across his head. “Eliminated: Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas highest-ranking leader was killed in a precise strike in Tehran, Iran,” it said in a Facebook post. The post was reportedly removed shortly, according to Al Jazeera.
Was Haniyeh Behind October 7 Attack On Israel? While Hamas' Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar is believed to have been the mastermind of the attacks, Haniyeh, seen as a more moderate force in Hamas, lauded them as a humiliating blow to Israel's aura of invincibility. Hours after the October 7 attacks, Haniyeh appeared in a video released by Hamas leading prayers with other top Hamas officials.
They thanked God for the success of the attack, which blasted through Israel's vaunted defences and resulted in the deadliest assault in Israel's history, according to the AP report. Michael Milshtein, a Hamas expert at Tel Aviv University, said Haniyeh had a commanding role in the group's foreign policy and diplomacy, but was less involved in military affairs.
Hamas Military Wing Vows Revenge: Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, issued a statement, calling the killing a “dangerous event” that will have “major repercussions" across the entire region. "...The criminal assassination of the leader Haniyeh in the heart of the Iranian capital is a significant and dangerous event that shifts the battle to new dimensions and will have major repercussions across the entire region. The enemy miscalculated by expanding the scope of aggression," a statement by Qassam Brigades cited in an Al Jazeera report said.
Assassinating resistance leaders in various arenas, and violating the sovereignty of regional states. The criminal Netanyahu, blinded by delusions of grandeur, is driving the occupation entity toward the abyss, accelerating its collapse and permanent removal from Palestinian land,
