Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has vowed revenge after Hamas’ top leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an attack on Iranian soil on Wednesday morning.
Iran Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) directly guilty Israel for the attack, which targeted Haniyeh’s residence while he was in Tehran to attend the inauguration of newly elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Haniyeh has lived in exile in Qatar for years.
Khamenei said he was mourning the death of “Iran’s beloved guest inside our home.” according to State media outlet Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
“This paved the way for severe punishment to be imposed on him,” Khamenei said in his remarks, apparently referring to Israel.
The rocket or drone attack killed Haniyeh along with his bodyguard, according to the IRGC, which said the “crime” would be met with a “harsh and painful response.”
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zahri said Israel “opened fire on itself” in killing Haniyeh.
“This assassination will not achieve the objectives of [Israel] and will not be able to force Hamas to surrender,” Zahri said in an interview shared by pro-Iran media outlets. “Hamas will continue on this path until the end.”
Israel has not commented on Haniyeh’s death, although it has often failed to acknowledge attacks in other countries with which it is not at direct war or covert actions taken by its Mossad intelligence agency. The US said it was not aware of or involved in the attack.
It would be rare for Israel to attack Iran itself, although it has been accused of killing Iranian scientists in the country in 2020. Israeli forces also launched a limited attack on Iran in April, following a massive barrage of drones and rockets from Tehran against Israel.
Israel has targeted dozens of Hamas leaders in the war, including an attack in June that may have killed military commander Mohammed Deif, although it has not confirmed his death. The main Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, has not yet been found.
The death of Haniyeh, Hamas’s top leader since 2017, threatens to further increase tensions across the Middle East, where Israel is already fighting the Iranian-backed groups of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, while the Houthis in Yemen fight US forces in the Red Sea.
The apparent assassination attempt on Haniyeh comes just a day after Israel acknowledged that its attack killed Hezbollah’s top military commander in Beirut. That attack had already raised fears that a wider war between Israel and Hezbollah was quickly approaching.
Hezbollah has been firing at Israel since October 8 with artillery and rockets, in an operation linked to the war in Gaza, but the conflict is now its own diplomatic crisis, and Israel is unlikely to accept the Lebanese militant group on the border, even if it is fighting with Hamas. ends.
The events could also put an end to a ceasefire and a hostage release agreement in Gaza, something that the US is pushing for with all its diplomatic power. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday it was difficult to speculate on how Haniyeh’s death would complicate ceasefire negotiations, but reiterated his support for a Gaza settlement as the best way to ease tensions.
Israel is fighting to destroy Hamas in retaliation for the October 7 attack that killed around 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages. Some 116 hostages remain in Gaza. More than 39,000 have died in Gaza, where Israel faces scrutiny over its high number of civilian deaths and lack of aid to struggling Palestinians.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
