Khamenei orders attack on Israel, Ismail Haniyeh killed in Tehran

Qatar’s Prime Minister warned that the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh could jeopardize ceasefire efforts in Gaza, questioning how mediation can succeed amid such actions.

General strikes erupted in West Bank cities following the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in response to calls for escalation against Israeli forces.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in the Iranian capital of Tehran, Hamas said on July 31. His death comes almost ten months after Hamas carried out the October 7 attack on Israel. While some are already viewing the killing of the Hamas terror leader as an escalation, the reality is that his death is a small amount of justice for the crimes of October 7.

The death of Haniyeh came hours after Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed in Lebanon. These are serious blows to Iran’s axis of terrorist groups.

Haniyeh had flown to Tehran to attend the swearing in ceremony of Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian.

Haniyeh met with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on July 30 in a meeting that the Iranian regime publicized. Alongside Haniyeh was Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziyad Nakhaleh. Nakhaleh had arrived from Damascus. Haniyeh and Nakhaleh may have felt comfortable and safe in Tehran. Haniyeh was seated closest to the Ayatollah on a couch with Nakhaleh. Nakhaleh is seen sitting back slightly, distancing himself from Haniyeh. Perhaps Nakhaleh sensed that he should keep his distance from the Hamas leader, who would be killed less than a day later.

FILE PHOTO: Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal, with senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, gestures to the crowd upon his arrival in the southern Gaza Strip December 7, 2012. (credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMED SALEM/FILE PHOTO)

In Tehran on July 30 the Hamas terror leader was not the only major terror mastermind gathered to meet the Iranians. The Deputy Secretary General of Lebanon's Hezbollah Movement, Sheikh Naim Qassem was also in Tehran. He met with Pezeshkian. The new Iranian president vowed to support Hezbollah and the various Iranian-backed groups that have been attacking Israel.

“Pezeshkian made remarks on Monday night during the meeting with Ziad al-Nakhalah, the Secretary General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement who has traveled to Iran to participate in the presidential inauguration ceremony.” The Iranian leader’s comments focused on the need to unify Muslim countries against Israel.

Haniyeh traveled to Tehran believing that Hamas is still in the driver’s seat of regional conflicts in the wake of October 7. For instance, Hamas recently sent a delegation to China to discuss unity with other Palestinian factions. Hamas has been working with Moscow towards achieving other goals in the West Bank where it wants to come to power and weaken the Palestinian Authority. Hamas believes that it has been able to outmaneuver Israel in Gaza by continuing to control areas in central Gaza. It has also hardened its stance on a hostage deal, believing that it can get concessions from Israel.

Hamas leaders reside in Doha and they are likely advised by Doha not to bend to Israeli pressure.

Regional support for Hamas

Since October 7, Hamas has also received support from Turkey. Turkey’s president recently threatened Israel and claimed Ankara might intervene militarily to oppose Israel. All of this would have been good news for Haniyeh, who felt safe and privileged.

Haniyeh likely knew there were some risks involved in travel. Saleh al-Arouri, a Hamas terror leader who resided in Lebanon was killed in Beirut in January. The loss of Arouri was a setback for Hamas but Hamas has increased its role in Lebanon in recent years. It continues to threaten Israel from Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank. Hamas suffered another setback in mid-July when Israel targeted Rafa’a Salameh, a Hamas brigade commander in Gaza. Hamas commander Muhammed Deif was also with Salameh. Over the weeks since the attack, there is increasing belief that Deif was also killed.

Taken together, the possible elimination of Deif and the death of Haniyeh are serious setbacks for Hamas and the Iranian-backed terror axis. Deif and Haniyeh were two of those the International Criminal Court was seeking indictments against for October 7. The third man is Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. In essence this may save the ICC some paperwork as justice came early for two out of three.

Hezbollah is also suffering losses. Muhammad Nimah Nasser, who was the head of Hezbollah’s southern Aziz unit was killed in July and Taleb Sami Abdullah, head of the Hezbollah Nasr unit, was killed in an airstrike June 11. This basically represents the killing of the two southern division commanders of Hezbollah. Wissam Tawil, a senior Hezbollah commander was killed in an airstrike in January.

The key coordinator for Iran in ties with Hezbollah and other proxies was also killed earlier this year. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, an IRGC commander was killed on April 1, 2024 in an airstrike on a building next to the Iranian consulate in Damascus. Iran blamed Israel and carried out an attack with more than 300 drones and missiles on April 13-14.

The assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran is a grave escalation that will not achieve its goals, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters on Wednesday, joining many others reacting to the news.

The Supreme National Security Council of Iran convened on Wednesday morning to discuss the killing of Haniyeh, according to Israeli media. Iranian sources told Reuters that the council will decide on the strategy Iran will adopt in response to the assassination.

In response to the news, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, gave an official statement saying that the elimination of Haniyeh was "a cowardly act and a dangerous development."  

Leader of the PLO's Executive Committee, Husein Al-Sheikh, posted on X, saying, "We strongly denounce and condemn the assassination of the head of the Political Bureau, the national leader, Ismail Haniyeh. We consider it a cowardly act; this pushes us to remain more steadfast in the face of the occupation and the necessity of achieving the unity of the Palestinian forces and factions."

Mahmoud al-Aloul, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of Palestinian organisation and political party Fatah, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Mussa Abu Marzuk, senior member of Hamas, attend an event at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on July 23, 2024. (credit: PEDRO PARDO/POOL VIA REUTERS)

This comes after various Palestinian factions, including rivals Hamas and Fatah, agreed to end their divisions and form a Palestinian national unity government during negotiations in China earlier in July.

نستنكر وندين بشدة اغتيال رئيس المكتب السياسي القائد الوطني إسماعيل هنية. ونعتبره عملا جباناً، يدعونا إلى المزيد من الصمود والثبات في وجه الاحتلال، وضرورة إنجاز وحدة القوى والفصائل الفلسطينية.

— حسين الشيخ Hussein AlSheikh (@HusseinSheikhpl) July 31, 2024

In a post on their official X account, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani referred to Haniyeh's death, saying, "The pure blood of this mujahid will not be wasted. Blood will never be wasted"

"Haniyeh's martyrdom in Tehran will strengthen the deep and unbreakable bond between the Islamic Republic and the Palestinian resistance," Kanaani continued.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry posted an official statement on their website saying, "We condemn the vile assassination of Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran."

They also offered "condolences to the Palestinian people who gave hundreds of thousands of martyrs like Haniyeh so that they could live in peace in their own homeland, under their own state."

Hamas Siyasi Büro Şefi İsmail Haniye’ye Düzenlenen Suikast Hk. https://t.co/lqRQTUWwlg pic.twitter.com/8GMpa0B2if

— T.C. Dışişleri Bakanlığı (@TC_Disisleri) July 31, 2024

The Ministry added that the killing of Haniyeh demonstrated Netanyahu's lack of desire for regional peace and asked the international community to step in to "stop Israel." They also reiterated their commitment to the Palestinian cause.

International officials react

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who was in the Philippines, said the US would help defend Israel if it were attacked but that he did not believe a wider war in the region was inevitable, despite rising tensions, Reuters reported.

"I don't think war is inevitable. I maintain that. I think there's always room and opportunities for diplomacy." 

"This is an absolutely unacceptable political murder, and it will lead to further escalation of tensions," RIA cited Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov as saying.

Deputy Russian foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov told RIA Novosti that the killing was "an absolutely unacceptable political murder, and it will lead to further escalation of tensions."

The Dutch politician Geert Wilders posted "good riddance" on his X account.

Israeli Air Force fighter jets killed Hezbollah's most senior military commander and the head of its Strategic Unit, Fuad Shukr "Sayyid Muhsan," in the area of Beirut Tuesday afternoon.

Shukr is a Hezbollah commander who was responsible for the strike on Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights a few days earlier, which killed 12 Israeli Druze youth.

The civilian committee probing the events leading up to October 7 heard testimony from witnesses Tuesday, including from IDF reserve officers.

The body leading the probe is made up of legal and security experts and was announced earlier this month by families of those killed on October 7, representatives from kibbutzim that were attacked, and civil society groups.

The Hamas terrorists “knew that the IDF knows how to handle a maximum of five points in parallel,” Democrats Party leader, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yair Golan told the committee Tuesday.

Hamas called the IDF retaliatory strike on Beirut, targeting Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr a dangerous escalation, as the White House said Israel has a right to defend itself against Iranian back threats.

Learn about the world's reactions to the Beirut strike and the death of the Hezbollah commander in this report.

Israeli military police prosecutors contacted Palestinians in Gaza released from the Sde Teiman prison facility to inquire about possible abuse by IDF soldiers, Chief Military Prosecutor Col. Matan Solomash said in a classified meeting in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee (FADC) on Tuesday morning, according to a source.

Ayatollah Ali Khameini posted on X, formerly Twitter, a picture of himself sitting with Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General, early Wednesday morning.

Learn about the topic of the conversation in this report.

Vice President Kamala Harris said she backed Israel’s right to defend itself after the IDF killed the Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr on Tuesday who was responsible for the group’s strike in the Golan Saturday that killed 12 children.