DUBAI: The assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran in the early hours of Wednesday sparked regional and global reactions and raised fears of further escalation in a region rocked by Israel's war in Gaza and a deepening 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 confirmed Haniya's death and said in a statement: “Iran and the Resistance Front will respond to this crime.” Tehran used a term it uses for allied militant groups across the Middle East.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the attack.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed revenge on Israel for the killing of the Hamas political leader and said Israel had “prepared a harsh punishment for itself”.
“We consider his revenge our duty,” it said in a statement on its official website. Haniyeh was “a dear guest in our house.” Iran has also declared three days of national mourning following the assassination of the Hamas leader.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters: “This assassination of Brother Haniyeh by the Israeli occupation forces represents a serious escalation aimed at breaking the will of Hamas.”
He said Hamas would continue on its chosen path, adding: “We are confident of victory.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Haniya's killing and Palestinian groups in the occupied West Bank called for a general strike and mass demonstrations.
Russia condemned Haniya’s killing on Wednesday as an “unacceptable political murder.”
“This is a completely unacceptable political murder that will lead to a further escalation of tensions,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told the state news agency RIA Novosti.
Konstantin Kosachev, vice-president of the Russian Federation Council in the 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.
On the death of Haniyeh, the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that China rejects and condemns the act of “assassination”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned the “perfidious murder” of his close ally and “brother” Haniyeh in Tehran.
“May God have mercy on my brother Ismail Haniyeh, who was martyred in this heinous attack,” Erdogan wrote on the social media platform X, condemning “Zionist barbarism.”
“This shameful act aims to sabotage the Palestinian cause, the glorious resistance in the Gaza Strip and the just struggle of our Palestinian brothers, and to intimidate the Palestinians,” Erdogan added.
Qatar strongly condemned Haniyeh's killing, calling it a heinous crime, “a dangerous escalation and a blatant violation of international and humanitarian law.”
The Qatari Foreign Ministry stressed in a statement that “the killings and reckless attacks on civilians will plunge the region into chaos and undermine the chances of peace.”
The Iran-backed Houthi militant group in Yemen called Haniya's killing a “heinous terrorist crime.”
“Targeting him is a heinous terrorist crime and a blatant violation of laws and ideal values,” Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, a member of the Houthis’ political bureau, posted on X.
Egypt said the Israeli escalation following Haniya's killing showed a lack of political will on Israel's part to de-escalate.
A statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said this escalation and the lack of progress in ceasefire talks in the Gaza Strip were making the situation more difficult.
Yemeni rebels have been firing drones and missiles at ships in the Red Sea since November, claiming they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians during the Gaza war.
The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah expressed its condolences on Wednesday but did not explicitly blame Israel. It said Haniya's killing would make Iran-allied groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas even more determined to confront Israel.
There was no immediate reaction from the White House to Haniyeh's killing.
When asked by reporters in Manila about the attack on Tehran, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he could not “provide any further information.” However, he expressed hope for a diplomatic solution on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
