DUBAI: The killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh early Wednesday morning in Iran sparked regional and global reactions, raising fears of a wider escalation in a region rocked by Israel's war in Gaza and a worsening conflict in Lebanon.
Hamas said Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli strike in Iran, where he was attending the inauguration of the country's new president.
Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard military force confirmed Haniyeh's death, saying in a statement that “Iran and the Resistance Front will respond to this crime,” a term Tehran uses to refer to allied militant groups in the Middle East.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the strike.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed revenge on Israel for the killing of Hamas's political chief, saying Israel was “preparing a severe punishment for itself”.
“We regard his revenge as our duty,” a statement on his official website said, saying Haniyeh was “a dear guest in our home.” Iran also declared three days of mourning after the killing of the Hamas chief.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters: “This killing by the Israeli occupation of brother Haniyeh is a serious escalation aimed at breaking the will of Hamas.”
He said Hamas would continue on the path they were following, adding: “We are confident of victory.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killing of Haniyeh, and Palestinian factions in the occupied West Bank called for a general strike and mass demonstrations.
Russia on Wednesday condemned the killing of Haniyeh as an “unacceptable political murder”.
“It is a completely unacceptable political murder, and this will lead to a further escalation of tensions,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told the state news agency RIA Novosti.
Konstantin Kosachev, deputy chairman of Russia's upper house of the Federation Council, said he expected a “sudden escalation of mutual hatred in the Near East.”
“The most difficult period of confrontations begins in the region,” he wrote on Telegram.
On Haniyeh's death, China's Foreign Ministry said China opposes and condemns the “assassination”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the “cowardly murder” in Tehran of his close ally and “brother” Haniyeh.
“May God have mercy on my brother Ismail Haniyeh, who was martyred after this heinous attack,” Erdogan wrote on the X social media platform, condemning “Zionist barbarism.”
“This shameful act aims to sabotage the Palestinian cause, the glorious Gaza resistance and the just struggle of our Palestinian brothers, and to intimidate Palestinians,” Erdogan added.
Qatar strongly condemned the killing of Haniyeh, calling it a heinous crime, “a dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law.”
Qatar's foreign minister stressed in a statement that “the killing and ruthless targeting of civilians will plunge the region into chaos and undermine the prospects for peace.”
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militant group called the killing of Haniyah a “heinous terrorist crime”.
“Targeting him is a heinous terrorist crime and a flagrant violation of laws and ideal values,” Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, a member of the Houthis' political bureau, wrote on X.
Egypt said the Israeli escalation indicates a lack of political will on the part of Israel to deescalate, following the killing of Haniyeh.
A statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said this escalation, along with the lack of progress in Gaza ceasefire negotiations, complicated the situation.
The Yemeni rebels have launched drones and missiles at shipping in the Red Sea since November, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians during the Gaza war.
Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah expressed its condolences on Wednesday but did not specifically blame Israel. It said Haniyah's killing would make Iran-affiliated groups, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, more determined to confront Israel.
There was no immediate reaction from the White House on the killing of Haniyeh.
Asked by reporters in Manila about the Tehran strike, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he had no “further information to provide”. But he expressed hope for a diplomatic solution to the border between Israel and Lebanon.
