The assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniya has been greeted with sadness, anger and concern in the Middle East, whose governments fear that the attack in Tehran, the Iranian capital, will further inflame a conflict that threatens to spill over the borders of Gaza and Israel and plunge the region into chaos. While most official statements do not explicitly name Israel as responsible, which the Palestinian militia blames for the assassination, but details of which are still unknown, they do point to and accuse the Jewish state of seeking a regional escalation of the war.
Iran, where the killing occurred, has declared three days of national mourning. “Today, Iran is in mourning for […] “The brave leader of the Palestinian resistance, the martyr Ismail Haniya. Yesterday I raised his victorious hand and today I have to bury him on my shoulders,” lamented the new Iranian president, the reformist Masud Pezeshkian, in a message on the social network X. The Hamas leader, who resided in Qatar, had attended his inauguration after the electoral victory on July 6, only to be killed hours later in an attack on the residence where he was staying in Tehran. The moderate Iranian leader has warned that his country will defend its “territorial integrity and its honor” and will make “the terrorist invaders regret” what they have done. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic, through its spokesperson, has explained that the investigation of the attack is still open.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been harsher, but has directly accused Israel. “The terrorist and criminal Zionist regime turned our beloved guest into a martyr in our own home, which saddens us. But at the same time it has sought a harsh punishment,” he warned, according to the state agency IRNA.
Hamas has already responded that the assassination of its political leader “will not achieve its objective” or alter the group’s capabilities. Other allied groups have made similar statements. “Haniya’s martyrdom will increase the determination and tenacity of the resistance fighters in their path of jihad,” said a spokesman for the Lebanese militia party Hezbollah, quoted by Al Jazeera. Yemen’s Houthi movement, which is at odds with Israel and Saudi Arabia, also called the attack a “heinous crime” and a “flagrant violation of international law.” “It is a great loss at a critical moment in the fight against Israel,” acknowledged Mohamed Ali Al Houthi, president of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee of the Yemeni group.
In the Middle East, meanwhile, there is growing concern about the consequences of the assassination of a leader who occupied such a high position in the Palestinian Islamist resistance. Moreover, Haniya was in charge of the group’s external relations and had personally led negotiations in various forums, so he was well known and appreciated in foreign ministries and governments in the region.
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“The assassination of Haniya and the senseless attacks against civilians in Gaza will lead the region into chaos and undermine the chances of peace,” denounced the Foreign Ministry of Qatar, a country that has worked on mediation between Hamas and the Government of Israel, in a statement condemning the attack. Likewise, the Kingdom of Jordan, Israel’s neighbour, has warned that “this crime will bring more tension and chaos to the region.” “This attack aims to expand the war in Gaza throughout the region. As long as the international community does not act to stop Israel, our region will suffer increasing clashes,” lamented the Turkish Foreign Ministry, which has promised to continue “supporting the just cause of the Palestinian people.” Even the Taliban government of Afghanistan has regretted that the attack will cause “more instability” in the area.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who knew Haniya personally and had met him on multiple occasions, wrote on social media that the murder was “a vile act” that seeks to “undermine the morale” of the “honourable Gazan resistance”. “As has happened before, Zionist barbarism will not achieve what it intends,” he warned, while calling on Muslim countries to join forces to “put an end to Israeli terrorism” and “genocide in Gaza”.
But fears of an extension of the conflict are not limited to the Middle East. China and Russia have strongly condemned Haniya’s murder, which Moscow has described as an “unacceptable political crime.” In separate statements, both countries have expressed their concern about the increase in tension in the region. The US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, who is on an official trip to the Philippines, has been the only one to add a hint of optimism to the situation: “I do not believe that war is inevitable. I maintain that. I believe that there is always room and opportunity for diplomacy.”
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