Hamas leader killed in Iran by an alleged Israeli airstrike
Beirut: In a startling development that threatens to further inflame tensions in the Middle East, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a predawn airstrike in Tehran on Wednesday. Both Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel for the assassination, which occurred just hours after Haniyeh attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed revenge against Israel, stating: “We consider his revenge as our duty.” Khamenei warned that Israel had “prepared a harsh punishment for itself” by killing “a dear guest in our home.”
There was no immediate comment from Israel.
The assassination comes at a particularly volatile time in the region. Just hours earlier, Israel had targeted a top commander of Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group, in the Lebanese capital of Beirut. This series of strikes in multiple countries has alarmed international diplomats working to prevent further escalation.
A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the strikes in Beirut and Tehran have “almost killed” hopes for a Gaza cease-fire and could push the Middle East into a “devastating regional war.”
The Israeli military has declined to comment on the assassination, maintaining its usual policy of ambiguity regarding covert operations. However, Israel has previously pledged to eliminate Hamas’ leadership in response to the October 7 attack, which resulted in approximately 1,200 Israeli deaths and 250 hostages taken.
There was no immediate reaction from the White House to the killing of Haniyeh. A key question was whether Israel told its top ally the US ahead of time about the strike.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking from Singapore, said the United States was not aware of or involved in the strike. He emphasised the continued importance of achieving a cease-fire in Gaza but refrained from speculating on how Haniyeh’s death might impact those efforts.
The assassination of Haniyeh abroad comes as Israel has struggled to eliminate Hamas’ top leadership within Gaza itself, despite nearly 10 months of intense fighting in the enclave. The conflict has resulted in over 39,360 Palestinian deaths and more than 90,900 injuries, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Haniyeh, who had been living in exile in Qatar since 2019, was in Iran to attend the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian. Photos from the event showed him seated alongside leaders from Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, underscoring the close ties between these groups and Iran.
The decision to target Haniyeh in Tehran is particularly sensitive, given the already tense relationship between Israel and Iran. The two countries came close to direct conflict earlier this year following an Israeli strike on Iran’s embassy in Damascus, which led to an unprecedented exchange of strikes on each other’s soil.
Hamas’ military wing warned that Haniyeh’s assassination “takes the battle to new dimensions and will have major repercussions on the entire region.” The group’s ability to retaliate directly may be limited, given the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza. However, the killing could prompt Iran to increase attacks through its network of allied groups across the Middle East, known as the “Axis of Resistance.”
This network includes Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has been engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire with Israel along the border since the start of the Gaza war. It also encompasses Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria, as well as the Houthi rebels in Yemen, all of which have launched attacks against Israel or US bases in the region in recent months.
The assassination threatens to derail ongoing negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza, which US mediators had reported were making progress. It also complicates international efforts to contain the escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah following a recent rocket attack that killed 12 people in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, speaking in Manila, expressed hope that a diplomatic solution could still be found to prevent further escalation on the Israeli-Lebanese border. “I don’t think that war is inevitable,” Austin stated, emphasising the importance of pursuing diplomatic opportunities.
