Tension Heightens in Middle East over Killing of Hamas’ Political Leader, Haniyeh

•Iran vows to avenge killing, blames Israel for strike

•Netanyahu says Israel prepared for any scenario

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Hamas’ top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed yesterday by a predawn airstrike in the Iranian capital, Iran and the militant group said, blaming Israel for a shock assassination that risked escalating into an all-out regional war. Iran’s supreme leader vowed revenge against Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “will exact a very heavy price from any aggression against us on any front” but did not mention the killing. “There are challenging days ahead,” he added.

Israel had pledged to kill Ismail Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders over the group’s October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. The strike came just after Haniyeh had attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president in Tehran — and hours after Israel targeted a top commander in Iran’s ally Hezbollah in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

The assassination was potentially explosive amid the region’s volatile, intertwined conflicts because of its target, its timing and the decision to carry it out in Tehran.

Most dangerous was the potential to push Iran and Israel into direct confrontation if Iran retaliates. The US and other nations scrambled to prevent a wider, deadlier conflict, AP reported.

In a statement on his official website, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said revenge was “our duty” and that Israel had “prepared a harsh punishment for itself” by killing “a dear guest in our home.”

Bitter regional rivals, Israel and Iran risked plunging into war earlier this year when Israel hit Iran’s embassy in Damascus in April. Iran retaliated, and Israel countered in an unprecedented exchange of strikes on each other’s soil, but international efforts succeeded in containing that cycle before it spun out of control.

Haniyeh’s killing also could prompt Hamas to pull out of negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage release deal in the 10-month-old war in Gaza, which US mediators had said were making progress.

And it could inflame already rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, which international diplomats were trying to contain after a weekend rocket attack that killed 12 young people in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

Israel carried out a rare strike Tuesday evening in the Lebanese capital that it said killed a top Hezbollah commander allegedly behind the rocket strike. Hezbollah, which denied any role in the Golan strike, confirmed the death of Fouad Shukur on Wednesday, saying he was in the building that was hit. The strike also killed three women and two children, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said there was “no sign that an escalation is imminent” in the Middle East and that a cease-fire agreement for Gaza was still possible. He also said the US could not independently confirm reports of what occurred in Tehran.

Asked about Haniyeh’s killing, US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken said: “This is something we were not aware of or involved in.” Speaking to Channel News Asia, Blinken said he would not speculate about the impact on cease-fire efforts.

Khalil al-Hayya, a powerful figure within Hamas who was close to Haniyeh, told journalists in Iran that whoever replaces Haniyeh will “follow the same vision” regarding negotiations to end the war — and continue in the same policy of resistance against Israel. Hamas’ main consultative body was expected to meet soon, likely after Haniyeh’s funeral Friday in Qatar, to name a successor.

Israel often refrains from commenting on assassinations carried out by its Mossad intelligence agency or strikes on other countries.

But in a statement by his office, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel doesn’t want war after its strike on the Hezbollah commander in Beirut, “but we are preparing for all possibilities.” He did not mention the Haniyeh killing.

The killing of Haniyeh abroad comes as Israel has not had a clear success in killing Hamas’ top leadership in Gaza, who are believed to be primarily responsible for planning the October 7 attack.

Haniyeh left the Gaza Strip in 2019 and had lived in exile in Qatar. Israel has targeted Hamas figures in Lebanon and Syria during the war, but going after Haniyeh in Iran was vastly more sensitive.

Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard warned Israel will face a “harsh and painful response” from Iran and its allies around the region. An influential Iranian parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy was to hold an emergency meeting on the strike later yesterday.

Hamas’ military wing said in a statement that Haniyeh’s assassination “takes the battle to new dimensions and will have major repercussions on the entire region.”

But Netanyahu has said Israel will continue its devastating campaign in Gaza until Hamas is eliminated. On Wednesday, he asserted that “everything” Israel has achieved in recent months was because it resisted pressure at home and abroad to end the war.

Israel’s bombardment and offensives in Gaza have killed more than 39,300 Palestinians and wounded more than 90,900, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, whose count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

China has said it is deeply concerned about the exacerbation of upheaval in the region and what it may trigger. The representative said military means offer “no solutions” and “will only lead to a bigger crisis”.

An emergency United National Security Council meeting had also started last night, with representatives set to discuss the killing of Haniyeh.

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East also left the region with a growing list of cancelled flights. United, Delta and British Airways were expected to suspend flights to Tel Aviv beginning Wednesday evening, BBC said.

Greece’s Aegean Airlines and Germany’s Condor also cancelled flights to Beirut on Tuesday. And Air France and Lufthansa announced flight cancellations to Beirut on Monday.

Because of recent escalations in the region, the US has issued a new advisory, external to its citizens, urging them to avoid travelling to Lebanon.

“Do not travel to Lebanon due to rising tensions between Hezbollah and Israel,” the travel advisory said.