DUBAI: The killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday morning in Iran sparked regional and global reactions, raising fears of further escalation in a region rocked by conflict. Israel in Gaza and the worsening war 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 Corps confirmed Haniyeh's death and said in a statement that “Iran and opposition parties will respond to this crime,” using Tehran's term for allied militant groups across the Middle East.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the strike.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed revenge on Israel for the killing of Hamas' political chief, saying Israel was “preparing severe punishment for itself.”
“We consider his revenge our duty” in a statement on his official website, saying Haniyeh was a “beloved guest in our home”. Iran also declared three days of mourning after the killing of the Hamas leader.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters: “This Israeli killing of Brother Haniyeh is a major escalation aimed at destroying the will of Hamas.”
He said Hamas would continue on its path, adding: “We are confident of victory.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killing of Haniyeh, and Palestinian parties in the occupied West Bank called for mass strikes and demonstrations.
Russia on Wednesday denounced Haniyeh's killing as an “unacceptable political assassination”.
“This is a completely unacceptable political killing, and it will lead to an escalation of tensions,” Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
Konstantin Kosachev, deputy chairman of Russia's Supreme Federation Council, said he expected a “sudden increase in hostility in the east.”
“The most difficult period of conflict is beginning in the region,” he wrote on Telegram.
On Haniyeh's death, China's foreign ministry said China opposes and condemns the “killing” act.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the “brutal killing” in Tehran of his close ally and “brother” Haniyeh.
“May God have mercy on my brother Ismail Haniyeh, martyred after this terrible attack,” Erdogan wrote on social media platform X, denouncing “Zionist brutality.”
“This shameful act is aimed at disrupting the Palestinian cause, the glorious resistance to Gaza and the just fight of our Palestinian brothers, and terrorizing the Palestinians,” Erdogan added.
Qatar strongly condemned the killing of Haniyeh, considering it a heinous crime, a “dangerous escalation, and a flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law.”
Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized in a statement that “the killing of civilians and the indiscriminate targeting of civilians will lead the region into chaos and undermine the possibility of peace.”
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militant group called Haniyah's killing a “terrorist crime”.
“Targeting him is a heinous crime of terrorism and a flagrant violation of the law and the best values,” Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, a member of the political bureau of the Houthis, published in X.
Egypt says the Israeli escalation indicates a lack of political will from Israel to moderate the escalation, following Haniyeh's killing.
A statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that this escalation, along with the lack of progress in the Gaza ceasefire talks, has complicated the situation.
Yemeni rebels have been sending drones and missiles in launches into the Red Sea since November, saying they are working with the Palestinians during the conflict in Gaza.
Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah issued condolences on Wednesday but did not specifically accuse Israel. He said the killing of Haniyah would make Iran-aligned groups, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, more determined to fight Israel.
There was no immediate comment from the White House on Haniyeh's killing.
Asked by reporters in Manila about the Tehran strike, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he had “no further details to provide”. But he expressed hope for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Lebanon border.
