Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Tehran

BEIRUT (AP) — Hamas’ high political chief was killed Wednesday by a predawn airstrike within the Iranian capital, Iran and the militant group stated, blaming Israel for a shock assassination that risked escalating into an all-out regional warfare. Iran’s supreme chief vowed revenge in opposition to Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated Israel “will precise a really heavy worth from any aggression in opposition to us on any entrance” however didn’t point out the killing. “There are difficult days forward,” he added.

Israel had pledged to kill Ismail Haniyeh and different Hamas leaders over the group’s Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel that sparked the warfare in Gaza. The strike got here simply after Haniyeh had attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president in Tehran — and hours after Israel focused a high commander in Iran’s ally Hezbollah within the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

The assassination was doubtlessly explosive amid the area’s unstable, intertwined conflicts due to its goal, its timing and the choice to hold it out in Tehran. Most harmful was the potential to push Iran and Israel into direct confrontation if Iran retaliates. The U.S. and different nations scrambled to forestall a wider, deadlier battle.

In a press release on his official web site, Iranian supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated revenge was “our obligation” and that Israel had “ready a harsh punishment for itself” by killing “a pricey visitor in our residence.”

Bitter regional rivals, Israel and Iran risked plunging into warfare earlier this 12 months when Israel hit Iran’s embassy in Damascus in April. Iran retaliated, and Israel countered in an unprecedented alternate of strikes on every different’s soil, however worldwide efforts succeeded in containing that cycle earlier than it spun uncontrolled.

Haniyeh’s killing additionally might immediate Hamas to tug out of negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage launch deal within the 10-month-old warfare in Gaza, which U.S. mediators had stated had been making progress.

And it might inflame already rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, which worldwide diplomats had been attempting to include after a weekend rocket assault that killed 12 younger folks within the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

Israel carried out a uncommon strike Tuesday night within the Lebanese capital that it stated killed a high Hezbollah commander allegedly behind the rocket strike. Hezbollah, which denied any position within the Golan strike, confirmed the dying of Fouad Shukur on Wednesday, saying he was within the constructing that was hit. The strike additionally killed three girls and two kids, in accordance with the Lebanese Well being Ministry.

White Home nationwide safety spokesman John Kirby stated there was “no signal that an escalation is imminent” within the Center East and {that a} cease-fire settlement for Gaza was nonetheless potential. He additionally stated the U.S. couldn’t independently verify experiences of what occurred in Tehran. A key query is whether or not Israel instructed the U.S., its high ally, forward of time.

Requested about Haniyeh’s killing, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated, “That is one thing we weren’t conscious of or concerned in.” Chatting with Channel Information Asia, Blinken stated he wouldn’t speculate in regards to the affect on cease-fire efforts.

The U.N. Safety Council held an emergency assembly Wednesday to debate the strikes with Iran and Israel every urgent the council to sentence the opposite. However the U.N.’s strongest physique issued no collective message after the assembly. The council’s 15 members variously warned that the Center East was at a precarious level, fearful about potential escalation, known as for restraint and diplomacy, and pointed fingers alongside longstanding fault traces.

Khalil al-Hayya, a robust determine inside Hamas who was near Haniyeh, instructed journalists in Iran that whoever replaces Haniyeh will “comply with the identical imaginative and prescient” concerning negotiations to finish the warfare — and proceed in the identical coverage of resistance in opposition to Israel.

Hamas’ essential consultative physique was anticipated to fulfill quickly, doubtless after Haniyeh’s funeral Friday in Qatar, to call a successor. A Hamas assertion stated a funeral service shall be held in Tehran on Thursday, with Muslim funeral prayers on Friday in Doha adopted by his burial in Lusail, Qatar’s second largest metropolis.

U.S. Secretary of Protection Lloyd Austin stated he nonetheless had hopes for a diplomatic resolution on the Israeli-Lebanon border. “I don’t suppose that warfare is inevitable,” he stated. “I feel there’s at all times room and alternative for diplomacy, and I’d prefer to see events pursue these alternatives.”

However worldwide diplomats attempting to defuse tensions had been alarmed. One Western diplomat, whose nation has labored to forestall an Israeli-Hezbollah escalation, stated the strikes in Beirut and Tehran have “nearly killed” hopes for a Gaza cease-fire and will push the Center East right into a “devastating regional warfare.” The diplomat spoke on situation of anonymity to debate the delicate state of affairs.

Israel typically refrains from commenting on assassinations carried out by its Mossad intelligence company or strikes on different nations.

In a press release by his workplace, Israeli Protection Minister Yoav Gallant stated Israel doesn’t need warfare after its strike on the Hezbollah commander in Beirut, “however we’re getting ready for all prospects.” He didn’t point out the Haniyeh killing, and a U.S.-provided abstract of his name with Austin didn’t point out it.

The killing of Haniyeh overseas comes as Israel has not had a transparent success in killing Hamas’ high management in Gaza, who’re believed to be primarily accountable for planning the Oct. 7 assault.

Haniyeh left the Gaza Strip in 2019 and had lived in exile in Qatar. Israel has focused Hamas figures in Lebanon and Syria throughout the warfare, however going after Haniyeh in Iran was vastly extra delicate. Israel has operated there up to now: It’s suspected of operating a yearslong assassination marketing campaign in opposition to Iranian nuclear scientists. In 2020, a high Iranian navy nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun whereas touring in a automotive exterior Tehran.

Throughout Haniyeh’s final hours in Iran, an in depth ally of Hamas, he was smiling and clapping on the inauguration ceremony of the brand new President Masoud Pezeshkian. Related Press pictures confirmed him seated alongside leaders from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group and Hezbollah, and Iranian media confirmed him and Pezeshkian hugging. Haniyeh had met earlier with Khamenei.

Hours later, the strike hit a residence Haniyeh makes use of in Tehran, killing him, Hamas stated. One in all his bodyguards was killed, Iranian officers stated. Hamas official al-Hayya later stated on Iranian state tv that Haniyeh was killed by a missile.

Iran’s highly effective Revolutionary Guard warned Israel will face a “harsh and painful response” from Iran and its allies across the area. An influential Iranian parliamentary committee on nationwide safety and international coverage was to carry an emergency assembly on the strike later Wednesday.

Hamas’ navy wing stated in a press release that Haniyeh’s assassination “takes the battle to new dimensions and could have main repercussions on the whole area.”

Netanyahu has stated Israel will proceed its devastating marketing campaign in Gaza till Hamas is eradicated. On Wednesday, he asserted that “the whole lot” Israel has achieved in current months was as a result of it resisted strain at residence and overseas to finish the warfare.

Israel’s bombardment and offensives in Gaza have killed greater than 39,300 Palestinians and wounded greater than 90,900, in accordance with the Gaza Well being Ministry, whose rely doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.

After months of pounding, Hamas has proven its fighters can nonetheless function in Gaza and hearth volleys of rockets into Israel. However it’s unclear if it has the capability to step up assaults in retaliation over Haniyeh’s killing.

In addition to a direct retaliation on Israel, Iran might work to extend assaults by its allies, a coalition of Iranian-backed teams often called the “Axis of Resistance,” together with Hezbollah, Hamas, primarily Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria and the Houthi rebels who management a lot of Yemen.

As a present of help for Hamas, Hezbollah has been exchanging hearth nearly day by day with Israel throughout the Israeli-Lebanese border in a simmering however lethal battle that has repeatedly threatened to escalate into all-out warfare.

___

Related Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut; David Rising in Bangkok; and Jon Gambrell in Ubud, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

___

Discover extra of AP’s protection at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war