DAccording to the Islamist terrorist organization, Hamas foreign chief Ismail Haniya was killed in an Israeli attack in the Iranian capital Tehran. He died as a result of an attack on his residence along with his bodyguard, Hamas said. There has been no official reaction from Israel so far.
According to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the United States was neither involved in the attack nor informed about it. “We had no knowledge of it and were not involved,” Blinken told Channel News Asia during a visit to Singapore.
When asked about the possible effects, he said, according to a transcript of the interview, that it was very difficult to speculate. The decisive factor was that there would be a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and that the Israeli hostages there would be released. A ceasefire would be the best way to calm the heated situation.
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Iran stresses the responsibility of the United States as a supporter of Israel for the killing of Haniya.
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Haniya left the Gaza Strip in 2019 and went into exile in Qatar. In the Gaza Strip, Hamas is led by Jihia al-Sinwar.
All developments in the live ticker:
13:15 – Federal government calls for “cool head” – Crisis team meets
The German government is warning against a further escalation of the situation in the Middle East. “We call on all actors to exercise maximum restraint. The logic of mutual retaliation is a mistake,” said a spokesman for the Foreign Office. He called on people to keep a cool head and do everything possible to de-escalate the situation. “The chance for a hostage agreement and a ceasefire in Gaza must not be squandered now.”
Deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner said that the federal government and its partners were doing everything they could and using all diplomatic channels to prevent an escalation and a regional conflagration. The entire region was “in an extremely dangerous situation.” The federal government’s crisis team will also meet on Wednesday to discuss the situation in the Middle East.
12:08 pm – Funeral for Haniya in Tehran, burial in Doha
A funeral for Haniya is to be held in the Iranian capital on Thursday. Afterwards, the body will be transported to Qatar’s capital Doha for burial, according to the radical Islamic Palestinian organization.
11:42 am – Qatar questions Gaza mediation
Following the killing of Haniya, Qatar has expressed doubts about the prospects of success of its attempts to mediate a ceasefire between the radical Islamic Palestinian organization and Israel. “Political assassinations and the continued shelling of civilians in the Gaza Strip during ongoing talks make us wonder how mediation can succeed if one side murders the other side’s negotiator,” writes Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on the online platform X.
For months, Qatar has been trying, together with Egypt, to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the release of Israeli hostages held by extremists in the Gaza Strip.
11:30 am – Iran threatens Israel – “Our duty to avenge its blood”
Iran has threatened Israel with “harsh punishment” for the killing. “The criminal Zionist regime has murdered our guest in our house,” said Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It is “our duty to take revenge for his blood,” he added.
Iranian President Massoud Peseschkian has also threatened Israel with consequences. Iran will “make the terrorist invaders regret their cowardly act,” Peseschkian declared. Musa Abu Marsuk, a member of the Hamas political bureau, called the “murder” of Haniya a “cowardly act that will not go unanswered.”
11:15 a.m. – Hamas military wing threatens revenge
The military wing of Hamas has threatened Israel with revenge. “This pure blood will certainly not have been shed in vain,” said a statement by the so-called Kassam Brigades on Telegram. Israel will pay the price for the act “in every place that the hands of our mujahideen reach,” the threat said.
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The Kassam Brigades and allied militias triggered the Gaza War with the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7. Only recently, Israel killed the head of the brigades in Khan Yunis.
11:05 a.m. – State media give details of Hanija’s death
Iranian state media have released details of Haniya’s death. He was killed at around 2 a.m. on Wednesday while staying in a residence for war veterans in the north of the Iranian capital Tehran. The apartment was hit by a missile fired from the air, the news portal Nournews reported.
Further investigations are underway to determine where the missile was fired from.
10:45 am – China condemns attack
China again calls for a ceasefire in the region and condemns the attack on Haniya. “We are extremely concerned about the incident, firmly reject the assassination and condemn it,” said a spokesman for the Beijing Foreign Ministry.
The spokesman added that they have always advocated resolving regional disputes through negotiations: “Gaza should reach a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire as soon as possible to avoid further escalation.”
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Just last week, 14 Palestinian groups visited China, including Hamas. The delegations signed an agreement to strengthen Palestinian unity. The goal is a joint unity government, it was said.
10:00 a.m. – Palestinian President Abbas speaks of “dangerous development”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killing of Haniya in a statement as a “cowardly act”. The head of the Palestinian Authority spoke of a “dangerous development”.
Mahmoud Abbas (r.) and Ismail Haniya (l.) at a meeting in 2006
Source: AFP/KHALIL HAMRA
The Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Hussein Al-Sheik, wrote on Platform X that his organization condemns “the murder of the national leader” Haniya.
An alliance of various political groups in the West Bank called for a general strike in response to Haniya’s death. They also said they would seek confrontation with Israeli soldiers at checkpoints. It remained unclear whether these would be demonstrations or attacks.
08:57 – “Hanijah’s death makes the world a little better”
Two of Israel’s right-wing nationalist ministers have reacted with satisfaction to the news of the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya. “Haniyeh’s death makes the world a little better,” wrote Amichai Elijahu, Minister of Cultural Heritage, on Platform X.
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Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli posted a picture of Haniya at a rally calling for the “death of Israel.” “Be careful what you wish for,” he wrote in the comment.
08:38 – After attack in Lebanon – Killed commander Shukr was in the house attacked by Israel
The Lebanese Hezbollah militia announced that its senior commander Fuad Shukr was in the building hit by an Israeli attack in a southern suburb of Beirut. However, the radical Islamic organization did not provide any information about his fate.
The Israeli military announced on Tuesday evening that it had killed Shukr. He was the highest-ranking commander of Hezbollah and was responsible for a rocket attack at the weekend that killed 12 children and teenagers playing soccer in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
08:25 am – Who is Ismail Hanija?
Haniya had described October 7 as “the beginning of the end of the occupation of our country” and called on Palestinians in the West Bank and Arab Israelis to take part in attacks on Israel.
In Western security circles, the Hamas official was considered a leading part of the group’s propaganda arm. According to them, he also tried to stir up hatred against Israel on the international stage. To this end, Hamas had built up a complex media infrastructure using social networks.
08:20 – Russia calls killing “unacceptable political murder”
Russia has strongly condemned the killing of Haniya. “This is an absolutely unacceptable political murder that will lead to a further escalation of tensions,” the RIA news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov as saying. This will also have a negative impact on the negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
On the one hand, Russia maintains relations with Israel, but on the other hand it has even closer relations with the countries Iran and Syria, which are enemies of Israel, as well as with the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas.
08:00 – Türkiye condemns act as “shameful murder”
Turkey condemned the death as a “shameful murder.” “This attack also aims to expand the Gaza war to an international dimension,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. The Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has once again shown that “it has no intention of creating peace,” it said.
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