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 battle. Iran’s supreme chief vowed revenge towards Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated Israel “will precise a really heavy value from any aggression towards 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 battle 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 probably explosive amid the area’s risky, 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 stop a wider, deadlier battle.

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

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

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

And it may 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 loss of life of Fouad Shukur on Wednesday, saying he was within the constructing that was hit. The strike additionally killed three girls and two youngsters, 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 studies of what occurred in Tehran. A key query is whether or not Israel informed 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 concerning 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, apprehensive about potential escalation, known as for restraint and diplomacy, and pointed fingers alongside longstanding fault strains.

Khalil al-Hayya, a robust determine inside Hamas who was near Haniyeh, informed journalists in Iran that whoever replaces Haniyeh will “observe the identical imaginative and prescient” relating to negotiations to finish the battle — and proceed in the identical coverage of resistance towards Israel.

Hamas’ primary consultative physique was anticipated to satisfy quickly, seemingly after Haniyeh’s funeral Friday in Qatar, to call a successor. A Hamas assertion stated a funeral service can 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 battle is inevitable,” he stated. “I believe 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 stop 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 battle.” The diplomat spoke on situation of anonymity to debate the delicate state of affairs.

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

In an announcement by his workplace, Israeli Protection Minister Yoav Gallant stated Israel doesn’t need battle after its strike on the Hezbollah commander in Beirut, “however we’re making 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 liable 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 in the course of the battle, however going after Haniyeh in Iran was vastly extra delicate. Israel has operated there prior to now: It’s suspected of operating a yearslong assassination marketing campaign towards Iranian nuclear scientists. In 2020, a high Iranian army nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun whereas touring in a automobile outdoors 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 images 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 overseas coverage was to carry an emergency assembly on the strike later Wednesday.

Hamas’ army wing stated in an announcement that Haniyeh’s assassination “takes the battle to new dimensions and could have main repercussions on all the area.”

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

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 depend doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.

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

Apart from a direct retaliation on Israel, Iran may work to extend assaults by way of its allies, a coalition of Iranian-backed teams generally known as 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 assist for Hamas, Hezbollah has been exchanging fireplace nearly every day with Israel throughout the Israeli-Lebanese border in a simmering however lethal battle that has repeatedly threatened to escalate into all-out battle.

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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.

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