World reacts to killing of Hamas leader Haniyeh in Tehran

Ismael Haniyeh, Palestinian leader of the militant group Hamas, surrounded by lawmakers flashes the victory sign during the swearing in ceremony for the new Iranian President, at the parliament in Tehran on July 30, 2024. Iranian reformist Masoud Pezeshkian was sworn as the Islamic republic's ninth president. (Photo by AFP)
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Updated 31 July 2024
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World reacts to killing of Hamas leader Haniyeh in Tehran

DUBAI: The assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the early hours of Wednesday morning in Iran drew regional and global reactions, raising fears of wider escalation in a region shaken by Israel’s war in Gaza and a worsening conflict in Lebanon.

Hamas said that Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli strike in Iran, where he was attending the inauguration of the country’s new president. 

Israel itself did not immediately comment but it often doesn’t when it comes to assassinations carried out by their Mossad intelligence agency.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the United States was “not aware of or involved in” the killing of Haniyeh in Iran.

“I can't tell you what this means. I can tell you that the imperative of getting a ceasefire, the importance that that has for everyone, remains,” Blinken said, according to a transcript shared by his staff from an interview with Channel News Asia in Singapore.

However, Iran said that the United States bears responsibility in the assassination of Haniyeh because of its support for Israel.

Attack risks to escalate regional fighting
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed revenge on Israel over the killing of Hamas' political chief, saying Israel “prepared a harsh punishment for itself.”

“We consider his revenge as our duty” in a statement on his official website, saying Haniyeh was “a dear guest in our home.” Iran also declared three days of mourning following the killing of the Hamas chief.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters: “This assassination by the Israeli occupation of Brother Haniyeh is a grave escalation that aims to break the will of Hamas.”

He said that Hamas would continue the path it was following, adding: “We are confident of victory.”

Hamas senior official Moussa Abu Marzouk, meanwhile, said that Haniyeh’s assassination will not go unanswered, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported Wednesday. He also called the assassination a cowardly act.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killing of Haniyeh, and Palestinian factions in the occupied West Bank called for a general strike and mass demonstrations.

Russia on Wednesday denounced the killing of Haniyeh as an “unacceptable political assassination.”

“It is a completely unacceptable political assassination, and this will lead to a further escalation of tensions,” Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikhail Bogdanov told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

Konstantin Kosachev, the vice president of Russia’s upper house Federation Council, said that he expected a “sudden escalation of mutual hatred in the Near East.”

“The most difficult period of confrontations is beginning in the region,” he wrote on Telegram.

On Haniyeh’s death, China’s foreign ministry said that China opposes and condemns the act of “assassination.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the “perfidious assassination” in Tehran of his close ally and “brother” Haniyeh. 

“May God have mercy on my brother Ismail Haniyeh, fallen in martyrdom after this odious attack,” Erdogan wrote on the X social media platform, denouncing “Zionist barbarity.”

“This shameful act aims to sabotage the Palestinian cause, the glorious Gazan resistance and our Palestinian brothers' just fight, and to intimidate Palestinians,” Erdogan added.

Qatar and Egypt say assassinations damage Gaza truce chances

Qatar strongly condemned the assassination 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 stressed in a statement that “the assassination and reckless targeting of civilians will lead the region into chaos and undermine the chances of peace.”

Egypt said that Israeli escalation indicated a lack of political will from Israel for de-escalation, after the killing of Haniyeh. 

A statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said this escalation, along with making no progress in Gaza ceasefire talks, was complicating the situation.

Iraq's foreign ministry in a statement described the killing as a “flagrant violation of international law and a threat to security and stability in the region.”

Iran-backed groups condemn Haniyeh killing

Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards military force confirmed the death of Haniyeh and said in a statement that “Iran and the resistance front will respond to this crime," employing a term Tehran uses to refer to allied militant groups across the Middle East.

Yemen’s Iran-backed militant Houthi group called Haniyeh’s killing a “heinous terrorist crime”.

“Targeting him is a heinous terrorist crime and a flagrant violation of laws and ideal values,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Huthis' political bureau, posted on X.

The Yemeni rebels have been launching drones and missiles at shipping in the Red Sea since November, saying that they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians during the Gaza war.

Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah issued its condolences on Wednesday but did not specifically accuse Israel. It said that Haniyeh’s killing would make Iran-aligned groups, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, more determined to confront Israel.

Iraqi armed faction Kataib Hezbollah, part of a pro-Iran alliance of armed groups, said the Israeli killing of Haniyeh in Tehran “broke all rules of engagement,” in a statement on its official Telegram account on Wednesday.


 


UAE president, Qatar emir review regional developments in Abu Dhabi

Updated 3 sec ago
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UAE president, Qatar emir review regional developments in Abu Dhabi

  • Leaders discussed efforts to address the latest developments in the Middle East

LONDON: The president of the UAE and the emir of Qatar discussed bilateral ties during a meeting at Qasr Al-Shati in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest, focusing particularly on the latest developments in the Middle East and sharing insights on efforts to address them.

The leaders explored ways to boost cooperation for the benefit and prosperity of both nations, the Emirates News Agency reported.

Several senior officials and ministers attended the meeting, including Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, deputy ruler of Abu Dhabi and national security adviser, and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani.


Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 16, including 3 children

Updated 5 min ago
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Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 16, including 3 children

GAZA: Gaza’s civil defense agency on Sunday said Israeli strikes on the Palestinian territory killed 16 people, including at least three children.
Six people were killed in overnight air strikes in Khan Yunis governorate, in the south of the Gaza Strip, civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said. They included two boys aged five and two, in an apartment in Al-Mawasi.
The civil defense later said 10 more people were killed in a strike on a tent also in Al-Mawasi, among them a child and seven women.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond for comment when contact by AFP. A spokesperson said they were gathering details.
A military statement issued in the morning said the army had “struck more than 100 terrorist targets throughout the Gaza Strip” during the past two days.
It said soldiers found “weapons caches” and killed “a number of terrorists” in the south.
Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza on March 18 after a two-month truce in its war against Hamas, which was triggered by the Palestinian militant group’s October 7, 2023 attack.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza on Sunday said at least 2,436 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign in Gaza, bringing the war’s overall death toll to 52,535.
Israel halted aid deliveries to Gaza, saying Hamas had diverted supplies. Israel says the blockade is meant to pressure the militants into releasing hostages held in the Palestinian territory.
UN agencies have urged Israel to lift restrictions, saying Gazans have been experiencing a humanitarian catastrophe and warning of famine.

Lebanon holds local polls in first vote since Israel-Hezbollah war

Updated 55 min 24 sec ago
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Lebanon holds local polls in first vote since Israel-Hezbollah war

BEIRUT: Lebanon on Sunday began the first stage of long-delayed municipal elections, the first vote since a devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah and after a new national government was formed.
Polls opened at 7:00 am (0400 GMT) for voters in the Mount Lebanon district, a heavily populated area with mixed political and religious affiliations that includes Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold that was heavily damaged by Israeli strikes.
“We have come to exercise our right and have our voices heard,” said Hashem Shamas, 39, a Hezbollah supporter, after voting in south Beirut’s Shiyah neighborhood.
According to the interior ministry, 9,321 candidates including 1,179 women are running in the Mount Lebanon district.
Lebanon is supposed to hold municipal elections every six years, but cash-strapped authorities last held a local ballot in 2016.
President Joseph Aoun emphasized the vote’s importance to “give confidence to the people and internationally that Lebanon is rebuilding its institutions and is back on the right track.”
Aoun was elected in January and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam formed a government the following month, ending a more than two-year vacuum as Lebanon’s balance of power shifted following the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The new authorities have promised reforms in order to gain the trust of the international community, as well as unlock billions in bail-out funds amid a five-year economic crisis. They have also vowed a state monopoly on bearing arms.
Hezbollah was left badly weakened in more than a year of hostilities with Israel, with a slew of commanders including the group’s longtime chief, Hassan Nasrallah, killed and its strongholds pummelled in the south and east and in south Beirut.
Israel has continued to strike targets in Lebanon despite a ceasefire and still has troops in five areas it considers “strategic.”
In April 2024, the municipal polls were postponed amid the hostilities, which escalated in September into a major Israeli bombing campaign and ground incursion before the ceasefire about two months later.
Aoun urged voters not to let sectarian, “partisan or financial factors” impact their vote.
Religious and political affiliations are usually key electoral considerations in multi-confessional Lebanon, where power is shared along sectarian lines.
Municipal ballots however provide a greater margin for local community dynamics to play a role.
Polls are set to close at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Areas of northern Lebanon will vote on May 11, with Beirut and the country’s eastern Bekaa Valley area set to go to the polls on May 18, while voters in the heavily damaged south will cast ballots on May 24.


Lebanese army says Hamas handed over suspect in missile launches toward Israel

Updated 04 May 2025
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Lebanese army says Hamas handed over suspect in missile launches toward Israel

CAIRO: The Lebanese army said on Sunday that Hamas handed over a suspect involved in launching missiles towards Israel in March, days after Lebanon warned the Palestinian group not to conduct operations that compromise Lebanese security or sovereignty.


UAE to lift Lebanon travel ban on May 7

Updated 04 May 2025
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UAE to lift Lebanon travel ban on May 7

  • UAE will lift a ban for its citizens traveling to Lebanon as of May 7, 2025

DUBAI: The UAE Foreign Ministry announced Sunday that it will lift a ban on its citizens traveling to Lebanon as of May 7, 2025, following a visit by the Lebanese head of state last week, according to WAM News Agency. 

The decision comes after a joint statement issued on Thursday, announcing that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed agreed to implement measures to facilitate travel and improve movement between the two countries.

The UAE banned its citizens from traveling to Lebanon in 2021. Lebanese citizens were not banned from traveling to the UAE.