Iran buries senior Hamas official as Israel braces for revenge

Ethan Bronner and Peter Martin | Bloomberg News (TNS)

Iran’s Supreme Leader led prayers over the coffin of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas assassinated in Tehran this week, as the Israeli military heightened its alert over potential retaliatory attacks.

Iranian state TV showed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei leading the start of the funeral procession before Haniyeh’s coffin was driven into the city center, through crowds waving Palestinian flags while some onlookers called for revenge. Iran and Hamas say he was killed by Israel, which hasn’t issued a denial and has vowed to kill all Hamas leaders since the group’s attack on the country on Oct. 7.

In Beirut, a similar procession was due to be held for a high-ranking member of Hezbollah, Fuad Shukr, who was killed in the Lebanese capital by an Israeli missile on Tuesday, just hours before Haniyeh’s death. Israel took responsibility for that one, saying it was in response to the killing of a dozen youths playing soccer in the Golan Heights on Saturday.

Pledges to respond — from Hamas, Hezbollah and their sponsor, Iran — for the pair of assassinations have rung out across the region, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to go on TV late Wednesday to say the country is “prepared for any scenario and will stand, united and resolved, against any threat.”

With Israel’s air defense systems on high alert, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said that “if Israel is attacked, yes we will help Israel defend itself.”

Khamenei had earlier said Iran has a “duty to seek vengeance” for Haniyeh’s death and Israel should expect a “severe punishment.”

Full-Blown War

The U.S., a key Israeli ally, is striving to prevent the situation escalating into a full-blown war across the Middle East. The Biden administration used intermediaries to send warnings to Iran, Hezbollah and the Houthis of Yemen not to escalate, according to people familiar with US policy. The U.S. also counseled Israel on the need for caution in its next steps, the people said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed other world leaders in warning of the heightened risk to the region of the developing hostilities, which began in October with the invasion of Israel by Hamas terrorists that triggered the ongoing and brutal 10-month war in Gaza.

“Right now, the path that the region is on is toward more conflict,” Blinken said in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. “It’s urgent that all parties make the right choices in the days ahead because those choices are the difference between staying on this path of violence, of insecurity, of suffering, or moving to something very different and much better.”

The U.S. and others have been striving for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas for months without success, and Blinken said a deal remains the best way forward. A truce would likely see the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and allow for much-needed aid to be delivered into Gaza.

Thursday marks the 300th day of the war between Israel and Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union. Fighting continues unabated, with Israeli’s military reporting the striking of loaded launchers aimed at the country. On Wednesday, Israeli warplanes killed two journalists working for Al Jazeera, the Qatari-owned network.

Within Israel a debate has arisen over the wisdom of assassinations, which the military said now includes Mohammed Deif, Hamas’s second in command, in a strike in Gaza last month. Some back the government’s argument that they’re an effective tool to deter and weaken groups like Hamas and Hezbollah and lead them to soften their negotiating positions.

Writing in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, commentator Avi Issacharoff praised the killings and said, “The Palestinian public that celebrated Oct. 7 and the ‘victory’ over Israel has now come to see that Hamas too is vulnerable and fragile. That can’t be hidden any longer; they can’t bask in their victory over Israel.”

But Michael Milshtein, a former intelligence officer who heads Palestinian studies at Tel Aviv University’s Dayan Center, said in a radio interview that even though the killing of Haniyeh is an important symbolic act, the key player in Hamas remains Yahya Sinwar, believed to be somewhere in Gaza and who, he says, is far more radical than Haniyeh and may be emboldened without his influence.

“It’s incorrect to say that Hamas doesn’t want a deal — but on its terms,” Milshstein said. “The ‘increased pressure’ doesn’t lead to softening of positions by Hamas. And we have to understand that.”

—With assistance from Daniel Flatley.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.