The head of the political bureau of Hamas and former Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in an Israeli strike on his residence in the Iranian capital Tehran early on Wednesday. Haniyeh was on a visit to Iran to participate in the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
Hamas announced in a statement that Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli strike, while the Iranian supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, accused Israel of the assassination, adding that it “will be severely punished.” The Iranian Revolutionary Guard also accused Israel in a statement, vowing that “the Zionist regime will face a harsh response from the resistance axis and especially Iran.”
Israel, for its part, did not officially claim responsibility for Haniyeh’s killing, although its heritage minister, Amichai Eliyahu, celebrated the assassination, commenting that “this is the correct way to cleanse the world.” The Israeli public broadcaster also said that the assassination occurred by means of a missile launched from outside of Iranian territory.
Haniyeh is the highest-ranking Hamas figure to be assassinated by Israel since the beginning of the current war. He was also heading the ceasefire negotiations on Hamas’s behalf in recent months.
The assassination came hours after an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern Dahiya suburb, considered to be Hezbollah’s most major stronghold. The strike targeted Hezbollah senior commander Fouad Shukr, described as Hassan Nasrallah’s righthand man. The fate of Shukr remains unknown as of the time of writing, but Hezbollah admitted that Shukr was inside the building targeted by Israel. The Israeli attack on Beirut marks the second major assassination in the Lebanese capital, the first being the killing of Hamas leader Saleh Aruri in January. The attack was also likely a response to the killing of 12 Syrian Druze children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in an explosion that Israel accused Hezbollah of orchestrating, despite the Lebanese group’s categorical denial of responsibility.
Also read: Who are the Syrian Druze of Majdal Shams?
Both incidents also come a week after the bombing of Yemen’s Hodeida seaport, which Israel claimed responsibility for in retaliation for a previous drone attack launched by Yemen’s Ansar Allah movement in Tel Aviv, which led to the death of an Israeli citizen.
These three actions signal a regional escalation as the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza has entered its tenth month. At the same time, the U.S. has continued to scramble to conclude a ceasefire and prisoners’ exchange deal ahead of the November presidential election. But both strikes on Beirut and Tehran followed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the U.S. and his speech before Congress, where he pledged to continue the war “until absolute victory” while making no mention of a ceasefire deal.
The attacks on Beirut and Tehran, in addition to the earlier attack on Hodeida, indicate Netanyahu’s intentions to prolong the war by widening its regional scope in order to sabotage a possible ceasefire deal, especially after reports by Israeli media that Israeli security and military chiefs have been pressuring Netanyahu to show flexibility in negotiations. Although Israel and the U.S. have declared that they don’t want a regional war, Israel’s actions make the possibility of such a war closer than ever. The U.S. also announced that it would defend Israel in the event of a wider confrontation.
According to Mokhimar Abu Saadah, a political science professor at the now-destroyed al-Azhar University in Gaza, “the assassination of Haniyeh will lead to the cessation of ceasefire negotiations. They will remain frozen for a while.”
“I do not think that anyone can talk about a deal or a ceasefire in Gaza at present after this assassination,” Abu Saadah told Mondoweiss Gaza correspondent Tareq Hajjaj. “Talk about this matter will be postponed for several days.”
Abu Saadah noted that “Hamas may launch suicide operations or shoot soldiers in the West Bank, especially since there is a general strike over his assassination and a state of grief. However, he dismissed the possibilities of a Hamas response from Gaza, “because there are no more capabilities in Gaza than what Hamas has done in the past ten months.”
“Iran is not willing to go to war with Israel over this assassination,” Abu Saadah believes. “If it responds, it will be a response to avoid embarrassment, because a war wouldn’t be with Israel but with the U.S., and the Iranians don’t want to go to war with Israel’s allies.”
The U.S. also doesn’t seem to be unwilling to support Israel in a regional war, especially ahead of presidential elections and an uncertain transition in the democratic candidacy. However, the U.S. policy so far has been to avoid pressuring Israel in any practical and significant way,
After ten relentless months of killing civilians en masse in Gaza, and following Israel’s indictment at the ICJ for plausibly committing genocide alongside the looming threat of ICC arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, the endorsement that Netanyahu found in Washington last week only served to encourage his conduct, which has now pushed the entire region closer to the brink of a war everyone has been trying to avoid.
Mondoweiss Gaza Correspondent Tareq Hajjaj contributed to this report.
Hamas maybe a terrorist organization but it pales in comparison to Israeli state terrorism.
Not only does Israel revel in industrially killing Palestinian “human animals”, it kills its own as Israeli newspapers confirmed in their investigation of October 7. Now, with the assassination of the Palestinian chief ceasefire negotiator, the lives of the remaining Israeli hostages are at a much increased risk of not surviving their ordeal. How does this act of state terrorism possibly enhance Israeli security, or that of Jewish people in general?
I think we know who the real barbarians are in this conflict. And, we know who has enabled and encouraged this behaviour.
“… its heritage minister, Amichai Eliyahu, celebrated the assassination, commenting that “this is the correct way to cleanse the world. …”
The language of “cleansing” or “purifying” the world was common in Nazi ideology to justify their genocidal policies.
I think maybe the people of Majdal Shams suspect Israel was behind the attack, since they have told Israeli leaders they don’t want them [the leaders] present at the funerals of the victims of the attacks.
Israel is known for its FALSE FLAG OPERATIONS. There is no reason to think that Hezbollah or any other Arab or Muslim group had any reason to target Majdal Shams, and every reason to think the attack was part of a ramped-up attack on the Arab world, coming in the wake of Satanyahu’s visit to Washington, where undoubtedly such an attack was given the green light.
Just my opinion…
Israel kills Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh essentially blows up ceasefire deal just what BB and his other right wing, radical co-conspirators want. Blow up any possibility of a ceasefire deal. Damn clear when you assassinate the head Hamas negotiator.
We all know Israel has been trying to drag the U.S. into a direct war with Iran. Kills Iranian scientist, Stuxnet, directly undermines the Iran deal etc etc etc.
Just got another call into Cspan’s Washington Journal. July 31, 2024: Addressed Israel not being willing to sign the NPT, not declaring nuclear weapons, refuses to open up to inspections. Iran signing the NPT, opening up to inspections, signing the Iran deal. Watch Mara Rudman’s face. Listen to her words later where she only expresses concern about the hostages…nothing about the tens of thousands of Palestinians massacred by Israel. Edelman does not answer any of my questions. Takes advantage and switches to the possibility of Iran developing nuclear weapons. Nothing about Israel’s nuclear weapons, unwillingness to sign the NPT. The possibility of Israel using nuclear weapons and dragging U.S. into
My question and comments for Mara Rudman and Eric Edelman at 34:01
https://www.c-span.org/video/?537335-5/eric-edelman-mara-rudman-us-military-readiness
Host had just provided the previous caller with close to four minutes to speak. Host cut me off after 1:44 with the excuse they only had a few more minutes. Utter bs. Host did not even attempt to get Edelman back to the exact question and points that I made. When the host interrupted simply wanted to ask them to have Andrew Bacevich, Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett and former IAEA weapons inspector Scott Ritter on to discuss this critical issue.
He was assassinated on Iranian soil? Gee, I wonder if this might cause Iran to ramp up its nuclear program….