Mourners gathered at a Qatari mosque on Friday to bid farewell to Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran in an assault blamed on Israel.
The assassination has heightened fears of a broader battle.
Haniyeh, the political chief of the Palestinian group, performed a key position in negotiations aimed toward ending almost 10 months of battle between his group and Israel in Gaza.
His dying has sparked requires revenge and forged doubt on the way forward for such peace talks.
Haniyeh, who lived in Doha with different members of the Hamas political workplace, might be buried in Lusail, north of the Qatari capital, after funeral prayers at Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque, the Gulf emirate’s largest.
His killing is amongst a number of incidents since April which have heightened regional tensions through the Gaza warfare, which has concerned Iran-backed teams in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen.
Türkiye and Pakistan declared a day of mourning on Friday to honor Haniyeh, whereas Hamas known as for a “day of furious rage.”
Hours earlier than the prayers, a whole bunch of mourners had already arrived on the Doha mosque.
Most wore scarves bearing the Palestinian flag or conventional keffiyeh patterns for the ceremony, held below tight safety.
Doha visitors police and Qatar’s inner safety forces monitored all approaches, with police lining freeway embankments adjoining the mosque grounds.
High-profile killings
Haniyeh and a bodyguard have been killed in a pre-dawn “hit” on their lodging in Tehran early Wednesday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards mentioned. Haniyeh had traveled to Iran to attend Tuesday’s swearing-in of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Israel, accused by Hamas, Iran, and others of the assault, has indirectly commented on it.
A supply near Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah motion advised Agence France-Presse (AFP) that Iranian officers met in Tehran on Wednesday to debate subsequent steps with representatives of the “Axis of Resistance,” Tehran-aligned teams within the Middle East that embody Hezbollah and Hamas.
“Two scenarios were discussed: a simultaneous response from Iran and its allies or a staggered response from each party,” mentioned the supply, who requested anonymity to debate delicate issues.
During the Gaza battle, Hezbollah and Israeli forces have engaged in near-daily exchanges of fireplace and did so once more on Thursday.
The Hamas chief’s assassination got here simply hours after Israel struck a southern suburb of Beirut, killing Fuad Shukr, the navy commander of Hezbollah, which helps Hamas.
Haniyeh’s deputy, Saleh al-Aruri, had already been killed in south Beirut earlier this yr in a strike {that a} U.S. protection official mentioned Israel carried out.
In one other high-profile killing, Israel’s military on Thursday confirmed that an airstrike in July killed the Hamas navy chief Mohammed Deif in Gaza.
Israel “delivered crushing blows to all our enemies,” mentioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In Tehran on Thursday, hundreds of mourners paid their respects throughout a public funeral ceremony for Haniyeh.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led the prayers, having earlier threatened “harsh punishment” for his killing.
Haniyeh’s coffin was then transferred to Doha. Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref left Tehran to attend the ceremonies in Doha, the Iranian authorities introduced on Thursday.
Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for its Oct. 7 incursion on Israel that ignited the warfare in Gaza.
That assault resulted within the deaths of 1,197 individuals.
Hamas additionally seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are nonetheless held captive in Gaza.
Israel’s retaliatory marketing campaign towards Hamas has killed at the very least 39,480 individuals in Gaza.
Deal ‘off the desk’
The New York Times, citing Middle Eastern officers, reported that Haniyeh was killed by an explosive machine planted a number of weeks in the past at a Tehran guesthouse.
Asked in regards to the report, Israeli navy spokesperson Daniel Hagari advised journalists that there was no different Israeli aerial assault “in all the Middle East” on the evening of Shukr’s killing in Lebanon.
Hugh Lovatt, an analyst on the European Council on Foreign Relations, mentioned Haniyeh’s killing, on the very least, “will mean that a cease-fire deal with Israel is now totally off the table.”
Still, the worldwide group known as for calm and a concentrate on securing a cease-fire in Gaza, which Haniyeh had accused Israel of obstructing.
U.S. President Joe Biden mentioned he was “very concerned” about rising tensions within the area and added that Haniyeh’s killing had “not helped” the state of affairs.
The White House mentioned Biden spoke with Netanyahu by phone on Thursday, promising to defend Israel’s safety “against all threats from Iran.”
“We have the basis for a cease-fire. He should move on it and they should move on it now,” Biden advised reporters after the decision.
In Israel, a whole bunch of Israelis once more marched in Tel Aviv to demand Netanyahu’s authorities attain a deal that may convey dwelling the remaining hostages.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, addressing the funeral of Shukr, mentioned Israel and “those who are behind it must await our inevitable response” to the dual killings.
“You do not know what red lines you crossed,” Nasrallah mentioned, addressing Israel.
Israel mentioned Shukr’s assassination was a response to a lethal rocket hearth that killed 12 youths final week within the annexed Golan Heights.
Source: www.dailysabah.com