DUBAI: The assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the early hours of Wednesday in Iran sparked regional and global reactions and raised fears of a wider escalation in a region rocked by Israel's war in Gaza and the worsening conflict in Lebanon.
Hamas said Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli strike in Iran, where he was attending the inauguration of the country's new president.
Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard military force confirmed Haniyeh's death and said in a statement that “Iran and the Resistance Front will respond to this crime,” using a term used by Tehran to refer to allied militant groups in the Middle East.
Israel did not immediately comment on the strike.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed to take revenge on Israel for the killing of the Hamas political chief, saying Israel has “prepared a severe punishment for itself”.
“We consider it our duty to avenge him,” a statement on his official website said, adding that Haniyeh was “an honored guest in our home.” Iran also declared three days of mourning after the killing of the Hamas chief.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters: “This assassination of brother Haniyeh caused by the Israeli occupation is a serious escalation aimed at breaking the will of Hamas.”
He said Hamas would continue on the path it is following, adding: “We are confident of victory.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killing of Haniyeh, and Palestinian factions in the occupied West Bank called for a general strike and mass demonstrations.
Russia on Wednesday condemned the killing of Haniyeh as an “unacceptable political murder”.
“This is a completely unacceptable political murder and it will lead to further escalation of tensions,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
Konstantin Kosachev, vice president of the Russian Federation Council's upper house, said he expected a “sudden escalation of mutual hatred in the Middle East.”
“The most difficult period of confrontation is beginning in the region,” he wrote on Telegram.
Following Haniyeh's death, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said China opposes and condemns the act of “assassination”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the “treasonous murder” in Tehran of his close ally and “brother” Haniyeh.
“May God have mercy on my brother Ismail Haniyeh, martyred after this heinous attack,” Erdogan wrote on the X social network, condemning “Zionist barbarism.”
“The aim of this shameful act is to sabotage the Palestinian cause, the glorious resistance in Gaza and the just struggle of our Palestinian brothers and to intimidate the Palestinians,” Erdogan added.
Qatar strongly condemned the assassination of Haniyeh, calling it a heinous crime, “a dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law”.
Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed in a statement that “assassinations and the reckless targeting of civilians will throw the region into chaos and undermine the chances of peace.”
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militant group called the killing of Haniyah a “heinous terrorist crime”.
“Targeting him is a heinous terrorist crime and a flagrant violation of laws and ideals,” Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi politburo, wrote on X.
Egypt said the Israeli escalation indicated a lack of political will on Israel's part to de-escalate after the killing of Haniyeh.
A statement from Egypt's foreign ministry said the escalation, along with the lack of progress in Gaza ceasefire talks, complicates the situation.
Yemeni rebels have been launching drones and missiles at shipping in the Red Sea since November, saying they stand in solidarity with Palestinians during the Gaza war.
The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah expressed condolences on Wednesday but did not specifically blame Israel. It said the killing of Haniyah would make Iran-linked groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas more determined to confront Israel.
The White House did not immediately respond to Haniyeh's killing.
Asked by reporters in Manila about the Tehran strike, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he had “no further information to provide”. But he expressed hope for a diplomatic solution on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
