ISLAMABAD – Amid ongoing the conflicts, recent high-profile attacks targeting Israel’s adversaries have heightened tensions in the Middle East, indicating potential escalations across the region.
In a dramatic turn of events, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran early Wednesday.
Iran and Hamas are blaming Israel for the killings, but Israel has yet to release a statement on the matter.
In a statement, Hamas’ armed wing said Haniyeh’s killing would “take the battle to new dimensions and have major repercussions”.
The assassination occurred just hours after a senior Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukr, was targeted in Beirut.
Israel claimed responsibility for Shukr’s death, alleging he was responsible for a recent rocket attack on the Israeli-Druze village of Majdal Shams in Golan Heights.
GAZA CEASEFIRE EFFORTS
The demise of Haniyeh comes at a critical time when Hamas and Israel have been negotiating a ceasefire agreement.
Mediation efforts by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt aim to secure the gradual release of at least some Israeli hostages.
UN SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING REQUESTED
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei vowed on Wednesday to seek revenge against Israel for the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
In a statement, Khamenei accused “Israel of ‘paving the way for a merciless punishment against us.”
He declared, “We consider it our duty to avenge him (Ismail Haniyeh).”
Khamenei also described Haniyeh as a dear guest in his house.
On the other hand, Iran’s permanent mission to the UN has requested an urgent Security Council meeting following Haniyeh’s assassination.
The letter sent to the UN Security Council president condemns the killing as a “terrorist attack” and accuses Israel of aggression and genocide against Palestinians.
It also alleges that the US provided authorization and intelligence support for the act.
ISRAEL IS PREPARED
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t mention of Haniyeh’s assassination in a televised statement on Wednesday evening. He, however, said Israel had delivered crushing blows to Iran’s proxies of late, including Hamas and Hezbollah, and would respond forcefully to any attack.
“We are prepared for any scenario and we will stand united and determined against any threat. Israel will exact a heavy price for any aggression against us from any arena”.
NEITHER AWARE NOR INVOLVED
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Wednesday that the US was ‘neither aware nor involved’ in the assassination.
During a televised talk, Blinken said, “I can tell you that the need for a ceasefire remains important to everyone”.
SERIOUS PROVOCATION
Earlier on Wednesday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killing of Haniyeh as a ‘cowardly act’.
In a statement from his office, Abbas described “the assassination as a serious provocation and called on Palestinians to stay united, patient, and resist the Israeli occupation”.
Following Haniyeh’s death, Palestinian nationalist and Islamic factions had called for a general strike and mass protests across the territory.
ISRAELI ADVENTURISM
Pakistan also condemned the killing of Haniyeh.
In a statement, the Foreign Office extended condolences to Haniyeh’s family and the people of Palestine.
“We are deeply shocked by this irresponsible act, which occurred so close to the inauguration ceremony of the Iranian president,” the Foreign Office noted.
It added that many foreign leaders, including Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, were there to attend the event”.
Pakistan also expressed deep concern over what it described as an increasing Israeli adventurism in the region. “These latest actions represent a dangerous escalation in an already volatile region and undermine peace efforts.”
FUNERAL PRAYERS
Meanwhile, Iran has declared three days of national mourning following the assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran.
According to the Iranian media, the funeral prayers for Haniyeh will be held in Tehran on Thursday morning. Later, his body will be transported to Doha, the capital of Qatar, where a second funeral prayers will be offered on Friday before his burial.
KHALED MESHAAL
It is expected that Khaled Meshaal will lead Hamas to fill the vacuum created by Haniyeh’s killing.
He survived an assassination attempt in 1997 when Israeli agents injected him with poison on a street outside his office in the Jordanian capital Amman.
The hit against a key senior figure of the Palestinian group, ordered by Netanyahu, so enraged Jordan’s then-King Hussein that he spoke of hanging the would-be killers and scrapping Jordan’s peace treaty with Israel unless the antidote was handed over.
Israel did so and also agreed to free Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, only to assassinate him seven years later in Gaza.
Meshaal, 68, became Hamas’ political leader in exile the year before Israel tried to eliminate him, a post that enabled him to represent the Palestinian group at meetings with foreign governments around the world, unhindered by tight Israeli travel restrictions that affected other Hamas officials.
Arshad Mehmood is a conflict zone journalist with extensive experience covering the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. Associated with a prestigious American news agency, The Media Line USA. He is a highly experienced journalist with a proven track record of covering inland and across-the-border terrorism and counter-terrorism narratives and incidents. (https://themedialine.org/) Most of his news stories published in The Media Line are also featured on JPost.com, a major media outlet in the Middle East. He can be reached via @RajaAajtv on social media.