US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to discuss tensions in the Middle East. 

Blinken “emphasized the importance of continuing to work to reach a ceasefire to the conflict in Gaza that would secure the release of hostages, alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people, and unlock the possibility of broader stability,” read a statement from the US State Department.

Blinken said the US would continue in its efforts to secure a ceasefire agreement and thanked Al Thani for his pivotal role in maintaining regional peace.

Al Thani, however, questioned how peace talks can continue after the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

“How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?” Al Thani said in a post on X.

Hamas and Iran have blamed Israel, which has not commented on the killing of Haniyeh. Continue Reading

Iraq’s foreign relations ministry condemned the killing of Ismail Haniyeh,  Hamas’ politburo chief, in Tehran.

The assassination was “a flagrant violation of international law and a threat to the security and stability in the region,” said the ministry in a statement.

 

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that a ceasefire for the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip was “imperative” without directly linking the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran to Washington’s Israel-Palestine policy.

"[W]hat I do know is the enduring imperative of getting the ceasefire,” Blinken said while speaking at a forum in Singapore. We'll continue to work at that everyday.” 

Blinken did not directly comment on the killing of Haniyeh.

"We've been working from day one not only to try to get to a better place in Gaza but also to prevent the conflict from spreading, whether it's the north with Lebanon and Hezbollah, whether it's the Red Sea with the Houthis, whether it's Iran, Syria, Iraq, you name it," Blinken said.

The Iraqi prime minister’s office also called for improved diplomacy in the region on Wednesday following Tuesday’s US retaliatory strike on a pro-Iran Iraqi paramilitary base in Babil province.

"A big key to trying to make sure that that doesn't happen, and that we can move to a better place, is getting the ceasefire,” he added, again referring to Gaza.
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Iran has announced three days of mourning from Wednesday to Friday for the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the Iranian government said in a statement.

“The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while expressing its sympathy to the oppressed and resistant people of Palestine and the survivors of Martyr Haniyeh, declares a public mourning on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday…” the statement read.

The Iranian government, according to the statement, deems the killing “violated all humanitarian principles, rules, and international law.” Continue Reading

Hamas' armed wing, Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said on Wednesday that the killing of leader Ismail Haniyeh will take the fighting to new levels and warned it will have "enormous consequences" on the entire region.

"This assassination ... takes the war to new levels and will have enormous consequences for the entire region," read a statement from the Qassam brigades, whose fighters are currently engaged in fierce battles against the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.

 

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Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei hinted that retaliation will ensue for the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

“The criminal, terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our territory and has caused our grief, but it has also prepared the ground for a severe punishment,” said the highest-ranking Shiite cleric in a post on X.

Haniyeh and the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Ziyad al-Nakhalah met with Khamenei on Tuesday, ahead of the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

“In the wake of the martyrdom of the great Mujahid Mr. Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, Imam Khamenei extended his condolences for the martyrdom of this courageous leader,” Khamenei added.
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Turkey’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no intention of peace, and Tuesday’s attack on Hamas political leader Haniyeh is “aimed at spreading the war in Gaza to a regional level."

"We express our condolences to the Palestinian people, hundreds of thousands of whom, like Haniyeh, have been martyred in order to live peacefully in their homeland under the roof of their own state," the statement added.

"We condemn the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, Chief of the Hamas Political Bureau, in a heinous attack in Tehran,” the foreign ministry added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also condemned the killing of Haniyeh in a separate statement on X.

"This assassination is a vile act aimed at undermining the Palestinian cause, Gaza's glorious resistance, and the just struggle of our Palestinian brothers and sisters. It is intended to demoralize, intimidate, and suppress the Palestinians," Erdogan said.

 

 

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Qatar's foreign ministry said in a statement that the killing of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh was a "crime" and "a dangerous escalation.”

The ministry further added that the killings, along with continued Israeli attacks on civilians in Gaza, would plunge the region into chaos.

Haniyeh assumed the position of the chairman of the Hamas politburo in 2017 and settled in Qatar, where the organization has an office. Continue Reading

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli strike in the Iranian capital of Tehran, a day after he attended the inauguration of the country’s new president, the Palestinian organization has said.

"Brother, leader, mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement, died in a Zionist strike on his headquarters in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of the new (Iranian) president," Hamas said in a statement.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced Haniyeh’s death, saying that it occurred at his Tehran residence, where a bodyguard was also killed.

"The residence of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political office of Hamas Islamic Resistance, was hit in Tehran, and as a result of this incident, he and one of his bodyguards were martyred," the IRGC said in a statement.

Iranian media reported that the Palestinian leader was killed at around 2 am local time on Wednesday.

Haniyeh was among the world leaders and officials who attended the inauguration of Iran’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday.

Israel did comment on the strike as of publication.

Senior Hamas officials said that the killing of Haniyeh will not go “unanswered.”

“The assassination of leader Ismail Haniyeh is a cowardly act and will not go unanswered," Hamas political bureau member Musa Abu Marzuk said in a statement.

Haniyeh was elected Hamas bureau chief in 2017, succeeding Khaled Mashaal. He became the Palestinian prime minister in 2006 following an upset victory in that year’s parliamentary elections against rival Fatah.

The killing of Haniyeh comes against the backdrop of soaring tensions between Israel and Iran-backed groups in the Middle East.

The Israeli army announced on Tuesday that it killed Fuad Shukr (also known as Sayyid Mushan), the right hand man of Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and the group’s senior military commander in an airstrike targeting the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

International condemnation

The killing of Haniyeh drew waves of international and regional condemnation.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday slammed the killing, labeling it a “cowardly act” while urging Palestinians to remain united against Israel.

"President Mahmud Abbas of the State of Palestine strongly condemned the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, deeming it a cowardly act and a serious escalation," his office said in a statement. 

Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the killing of the Hamas leader, state media IRNA reported, vowing retaliation.

“The pure blood of this steadfast fighter, who spent his life in honorable struggle and resistance against the usurping Zionist regime and in the path of liberating the noble Al-Quds, will never be in vain," IRNA quoted FM Nasser Kanaani as saying.

The Turkish foreign ministry also condemned the “shameful assassination” of Haniyeh, who is also an ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"We condemn the assassination of the leader of Hamas's political office, Ismail Haniyeh, in a shameful assassination in Tehran," the ministry said in a statement, warning that the killing “aims to spread the Gaza war to a regional dimension.”

Russia denounced the killing of Haniyeh on Wednesday labeling it 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.
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