Hamas leaders call for revenge as Haniyeh’s funeral ceremony held in Doha
Senior officials from terror group threaten Israel over alleged part in death: ‘Blood of Haniyeh will change all equations,’ as region girds for reprisal by Iran, its proxy allies
Hundreds of people gathered at a mosque in Qatar on Friday for the funeral of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh after his killing in Tehran, an attack blamed on Israel that has deepened fears of a regional war.
Mourners lined up for funeral prayers inside Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque, the Gulf emirate’s largest. Others prayed on mats outside in temperatures that reached 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit).
Mourners included Khaled Meshaal, who is tipped as a possible successor to be the new Hamas leader. Other senior Hamas officials and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani also attended.
Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan were also among the officials due at the funeral.
He will be buried in a cemetery in the city of Lusail, north of Doha.
Haniyeh’s coffin, draped in the Palestinian flag, was carried across the mosque past hundreds of people along with the coffin of his bodyguard, Wasim Abu Shaaban, who was killed in the same attack in Tehran on Wednesday.
Amir Sheikh @TamimBinHamad and Father Amir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, among other officials, are seen attending the funeral prayer of Ismail Haniyeh in Doha. pic.twitter.com/lszJWcqD9h
— Doha News (@dohanews) August 2, 2024
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters by phone as he attended the funeral: “Our message to the occupation [Israel] today is that you are sinking deep in the mud and your end is getting closer than ever. The blood of Haniyeh will change all equations.”
Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya, also a possible successor, told family members that Haniyeh was “no better or dearer” than the children killed in Gaza.
“We are sure that his blood will bring out victory, dignity and liberation,” he said.
The killing of Qatar-based Haniyeh has sent regional tensions soaring during the Israel-Hamas war which has drawn in Iran-backed terror groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen.
Turkey and Pakistan announced a day of mourning on Friday to honor Haniyeh, while Hamas called for a “day of furious rage.”
Many Doha mourners were dressed in crisp white traditional robes, others in street clothes. But most wore scarves that combined the Palestinian flag with a checkered keffiyeh pattern and the message in English: “Free Palestine.”
Doha traffic police and Qatar’s internal security forces monitored all approaches and police-lined highway embankments adjoining the mosque grounds.
High-profile killings
Haniyeh and his bodyguard were killed in a pre-dawn “hit” on their accommodation in Tehran early on Wednesday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said. Haniyeh was in Iran to attend the swearing-in of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian a day earlier.
Israel, accused by Hamas, Iran, and others of the attack, has not directly commented on it.
A source close to Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group told AFP that Iranian officials met in Tehran on Wednesday to discuss the next steps with representatives of the “Axis of Resistance,” Tehran-aligned Middle East groups that include Hezbollah and Hamas.
“Two scenarios were discussed: a simultaneous response from Iran and its allies or a staggered response from each party,” said the source who had been briefed on the meeting and requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the northern border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there, sparked by the devastating Hamas attack on October 7.
The Hamas leader’s killing came hours after Israel struck a southern suburb of Beirut, killing Fuad Shukr, the military commander of Hezbollah which supports Hamas.
Israel said Shukr’s assassination was a response to a deadly rocket strike that killed 12 children and teenagers last week in the town of Majdal Shams.
Haniyeh’s deputy, Saleh al-Arouri, had already been killed in south Beirut early this year in a strike that a US defense official said Israel carried out.
In another high-profile killing, Israel’s army on Thursday confirmed that an air strike last month killed Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif in Gaza.
In Tehran on Thursday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers for Haniyeh, having earlier threatened “harsh punishment” for his killing.
“Say hello to all the martyrs of Gaza, say hello to the leaders, to all Gaza’s martyrs, all the Muslims,” Amal Haniyeh, the Hamas leader’s widow said as she mourned beside his coffin.
War erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel, when terrorists murdered 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages to Gaza. Israel launched a military operation in response aiming to eliminate the terror group and return the captives.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 39,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 15,000 combatants in battle and some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 attack.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 331.
