Our Privacy Statement & Cookie Policy

By continuing to browse our site you agree to our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.

I agree

Hamas leader dead, Hezbollah commander missing after separate strikes

CGTN

00:37

Hamas has confirmed that its political leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in an airstrike in Iran, where he was attending the swearing-in of the new president. 

Israel declined to comment officially on the Tehran strike, but an army representative told RIA Novosti that Israel did not take responsibility. 

The Tehran strike which killed Haniyeh came hours after Israel said it had killed senior Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in a strike on the group's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs. Hezbollah said Wednesday that Shukr was inside the building hit by Israel, but that his fate remained unknown.

Hamas vowed the death of Haniyeh "will not go unanswered." Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened "harsh punishment" for the killing, saying: "We consider it our duty to seek revenge for his blood as he was martyred in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

"Brother leader, mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement, died in a Zionist strike on his residence in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of the new (Iranian) president," Hamas said in a statement.

Hamas political bureau member Musa Abu Marzuk vowed the group would retaliate. "The assassination of leader Ismail Haniyeh is a cowardly act and will not go unanswered," he said.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, pictured in Tehran on Tuesday. /Iran's Presidency/WANA/Reuters
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, pictured in Tehran on Tuesday. /Iran's Presidency/WANA/Reuters

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, pictured in Tehran on Tuesday. /Iran's Presidency/WANA/Reuters

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed to make Israel "regret" Haniyeh's killing. "The Islamic Republic of Iran will defend its territorial integrity, honor, pride and dignity, and make the terrorist invaders regret their cowardly action," Pezeshkian said in a post.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas condemned Haniyeh's killing as a "cowardly act". Palestinian factions in the Israeli-occupied West Bank called for a general strike and protest marches across the territory.

 

Middle East reaction

Reactions to the killing reverberated across the Middle East and around the world. 

Egypt's foreign ministry said that Israel's "dangerous escalation" in recent days "risks igniting a confrontation in the region that could yield to dire security consequences." Iraq's foreign ministry also called Haniyeh's killing "a threat to security and stability in the region," while Oman also condemned the action.

Qatar's prime minister, who has spearheaded efforts to broker a truce and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, said Haniyeh's killing threw the whole mediation process into doubt.

"How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?" Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani asked in a post on X, adding "Peace needs serious partners."

Syria's foreign ministry said it "condemns this blatant Zionist aggression," describing the killing as a "despicable act" and adding it "considers that the continued disregard of international laws by the Israeli entity... may set the entire region ablaze."

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan insisted the killing would not break Palestinians' will.

"This assassination is a vileness that aims to disrupt the Palestinian cause, Gaza's noble resistance and our Palestinian siblings' rightful struggle, to break the will of Palestinians, and to intimidate them," Erdogan said on X. "However, just as until today, the Zionist barbarism will not reach its goals."

 

Global reaction

China called for negotiation and dialogue to seek a lasting ceasefire. 

"We're closely following the incident, and we firmly oppose and condemn the assassination," said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian. "We are deeply concerned that this incident may lead to further instability in the region. 

"China always maintains that regional disputes should be resolved through negotiation and dialogue. A comprehensive and permanent ceasefire in Gaza should be realized as soon as possible to avoid further escalation of conflict and confrontation."

Russia condemned the killing and called on all parties to refrain from steps that could tip the Middle East into a major war.

"We strongly condemn the murder of the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Hamas movement, Ismail Haniyeh, as a result of a rocket attack on his residence in Tehran," said foreign ministry deputy spokesman Andrei Nastasin.

"It is obvious that the organizers of this political assassination were aware of the dangerous consequences this action is fraught with for the entire region."

"We urge all parties involved to exercise restraint and abandon any steps that could lead to a dramatic degradation of the security situation in the region and provoke a large-scale armed confrontation."

A crowd gathers in Tehran to mourn Haniyeh. /Majid Asgaripour/WANA/Reuters
A crowd gathers in Tehran to mourn Haniyeh. /Majid Asgaripour/WANA/Reuters

A crowd gathers in Tehran to mourn Haniyeh. /Majid Asgaripour/WANA/Reuters

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken refused to comment directly on the killing but said reaching a ceasefire in Gaza "is the enduring imperative."

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin insisted Washington would defend Israel if necessary, but hoped diplomacy could calm the situation. 

"We certainly will help defend Israel. You saw us do that April, you can expect to see us do that again," he said. "We don't want to see any of that happen. We're going to work hard to make sure that we're doing things to help take the temperature down and address issues through diplomatic gatherings."

Germany stressed international calls for restraint to avoid "a regional conflagration", with a foreign ministry spokesman saying: "The logic of tit-for-tat reprisals is the wrong path."

Commenting on the reported death of Shukr in Beirut, Lebanese Prime Minister Naib Mikati warned: "The strike on the southern suburbs is a strike on... efforts for calm."

Russian spokesman Nastasin also commented on that attack, saying "We strongly condemn the military action carried out by Israel, which constitutes a gross violation of Lebanese sovereignty and basic norms of international law.

"We express our deep concern about the growing threat of a sharp escalation of the situation in the Middle East against this background."

Hamas leader dead, Hezbollah commander missing after separate strikes

Subscribe to Storyboard: A weekly newsletter bringing you the best of CGTN every Friday

Source(s): Reuters ,AFP
Search Trends