Hamas Leader’s Killing in Iran: Regional Peace Talks in Jeopardy

Ismail Haniyeh, The Leader of the Hamas Authority
Ismail Haniyeh, The Leader of the Hamas Authority. Credit | DPA

United States – Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Hamas Authority, was killed in the early morning of Wednesday in the Iranian capital – Tehran, following an assassination attempt that escalated what many feel is a widening Middle East conflict by threatening to attack Israel.

The Palestinian militant group and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards officials independently verified Haniyeh’s death. The Guards claimed it happened several hours after he joined Iran’s new president’s inauguration officiation, as reported by Reuters.

Israel’s Silence and Regional Repercussions

While it was generally believed that Israel was behind the attack, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not claim responsibility for the assassination and declared that it would not add anything to the discussion of the event.

Haniyeh, usually in Qatar, had been Hamas’s chief diplomat during the war sparked by the Hamas-led aggression of Israel on October 7 as the conflict unfolded in Gaza. He had been engaging in internationally facilitated shuttle diplomacy to negotiate for a cessation of hostilities in the Palestinian territory.

The assassination was carried out within 24 hours of Israel saying it had killed a Hezbollah commander in Beirut, Lebanon, in revenge for an attack that killed an Israeli diplomat in the Israeli-occupied Goli Heights.

Recent developments seem to undermine any prospects for any immediate cessation of the conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Palestinian Hamas in the nearly 10-month-long war.

Hamas and Iran’s Response

The group’s armed wing warned in a statement that Haniyeh’s assassination “take the battle to new dimensions and have major repercussions.” Threatening to seek vengeance, Iran announced three days of mourning and asserted that the U. S. is to blame for backing Israel.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared that Israel had given grounds for its ‘severe retribution’ itself, while it was the Iranians’ obligation to avenge the death of the Hamas leader. Iranian forces have already targeted Israel in the early part of the Gaza war.

An Israeli government spokesman in Jerusalem refused to talk about the assassination of Haniyeh but confirmed the state of heightened alert in view of possible Iranian reprisal.

As spokesman David Mencer said at a briefing with reporters, Israel was seeking a ceasefire in Gaza and freeing the Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants in Gaza.

International Reactions

U. S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken briefly avoided a direct question about Haniyeh’s elimination during an event in Singapore, arguing that the focus on fighting in Gaza should be settled quickly to prevent further deterioration of the situation in the region. Speaking to Channel News Asia, he said that the U. S had had no knowledge of it nor participated in the murder.

Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, stated that Israel is not aiming at deepening the war but is ready for any situation.

Qatar, which has been holding negotiations to try and stop hostilities in Gaza in parallel with Egypt, termed Haniyeh’s killing as an escalation of the conflict.

“Political assassinations and continued targeting of civilians in Gaza, while talks continue, leads us to ask, how can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?” Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on X.

Ceasefire Efforts and Regional Mediation

Egypt wanted to use it as evidence of Israel’s unwillingness to reduce tensions on its territory. China, Russia, Turkey, and Iraq also expressed their disapproval of it.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council convened to talk over tactics in response to the killing, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Reactions in Palestine and Israel

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has described the killing as ‘barbaric,’ while factions in the Israeli-occupied West Bank urged people to go on strike and hold protests.

In Israel, the atmosphere was joyous as Israelis congratulated themselves on what they considered to be a great success against Hamas. Gaza citizens feared that Haniyeh’s death would prolong the conflict that has wrecked the Strip.

“What a loss. We lost one of our very own,” said Gaza resident Fatima Al Saati.

Another neighbor, Hachem Al-Saati, said: “This news is scary. We feel that he was like a father to us.”

CEASEFIRE TALKS FALTER

As prime minister of Hamas, since his appointment in 2017, Haniyeh has traveled between Turkey and Doha, which is the capital of blockaded Qatar, to negotiate in the ceasefire negotiations or with Iran, a Hamas’ ally. Three of his sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike in April 2014.

His deputy Saleh Al-Arouri was killed in January by Israel, leaving Yehya Al-Sinwar, the Hamas chief in the Gaza Strip and the mastermind of the Oct. 7 Israeli attack, and Zaher Jabarin, the head of Hamas in the West Bank, securely ensconced in hiding.

The attack by Hamas-led fighters destroyed much of southern Israeli communities, and around 1,200 people were killed; in addition, more than 250 people were abducted to Gaza as hostages, according to Israel.

Instead, Israel has led a ground and air attack in the coastal territory that has claimed more than 39,400 people’s lives, as said by the Gaza health official, and more than 2 million people living in humanitarian crises.

There seems to be no let up in the campaign by Israel there as the ceasefire negotiations Continue to stall.

Broader Implications and Hezbollah

The probability of a severe escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has also increased after the attack on the territory of the Golan Heights that caused the death of 12 children in the Druze village on Saturday and the subsequent assassination of Hezbollah’s senior officer Fuad Shukr, as reported by Reuters.

Hezbollah has not yet officially announced that Shukr is dead, but he told Hezbollah’s al-Manar television that he was in the building, which was targeted by Israeli forces.