Dubai: The assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran early Wednesday morning has sparked reactions across the region and the world, and is raising fears of a further escalation in a region already reeling from Israel's war in Gaza and the deepening conflict in Lebanon.
Hamas said Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli airstrike while attending the inauguration of Iran's new president.
Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard confirmed Haniya's death and said in a statement that “Iran and the Resistance Front will respond to this crime,” a term Tehran uses to refer to allied armed groups across the Middle East.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the airstrike.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed revenge on Israel for the killing of Hamas' political leader, saying Israel was “preparing him for severe punishment”.
“We consider it our duty to avenge him,” a statement on the group's official website said, adding that Haniyeh was “a precious guest in our home.” Iran also declared three days of mourning after the Hamas leader's killing.
“Brother Haniyeh's assassination under Israeli occupation is a major event aimed at breaking Hamas' will,” Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, told Reuters.
He said Hamas would continue on its current path, adding: “We are confident of victory.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Haniya's killing, and Palestinian factions in the occupied West Bank called for a general strike and mass protests.
Russia condemned Haniya's killing on Wednesday as an “unacceptable political assassination.”
“This is a completely unacceptable political assassination, which will further escalate tensions,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told state news agency RIA Novosti.
Konstantin Kosachev, deputy chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, said he expected “a sudden upsurge of mutual hatred in the Middle East.”
“The most difficult period of confrontation in the region is beginning,” he wrote on Telegram.
In response to Haniya's death, China's Foreign Ministry said China opposed and condemned the “assassination”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the “treasonous assassination” of his close ally and “brother” Haniyeh in Tehran.
“May God have mercy on my brother Ismail Haniyeh, who was martyred after this abhorrent attack,” Erdogan wrote on the X social media platform, denouncing “Zionist barbarism.”
“This shameful act is intended to undermine the Palestinian cause, the glorious resistance of Gaza, the just struggle of our Palestinian brothers and to intimidate the Palestinian people,” Erdogan added.
Qatar strongly condemned Haniya's assassination, calling it a heinous crime, an “escalation of a dangerous situation and a blatant violation of international and humanitarian law”.
“Assassinations and reckless attacks on civilians will plunge the region into chaos and undermine any hope of peace,” Qatar's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The Houthis, an Iran-backed militant group in Yemen, called Haniya's killing a “heinous terrorist crime.”
“Targeting him is a heinous terrorist crime and a blatant violation of the law and idealistic values,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi rebels’ political bureau, wrote on X.
Egypt said the escalation in tensions with Israel following Haniya's killing showed Israel's lack of political will to defuse tensions.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the heightened tensions and lack of progress in Gaza ceasefire talks were complicating the situation.
Yemeni rebels have been firing drones and missiles at ships in the Red Sea since November, claiming solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza war.
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah expressed condolences on Wednesday but did not specifically condemn Israel. It said Haniya's killing would strengthen Hezbollah and other Iran-aligned groups, including Hamas, in their fight against Israel.
The White House had no immediate reaction to Haniya's killing.
When asked by reporters in Manila about the Tehran airstrikes, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he had “no additional information to provide,” but said he expected a diplomatic solution at the Israel-Lebanon border.
