Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Iran on Wednesday after an attack blamed on Israel, is to be buried this Friday in Qatar, where he was living in exile, while Iran and its allies prepare their response. Hamas has called for a “day of anger” on the occasion of the funeral of its political leader and demanded that “marches of anger leave from each mosque” after the main Friday prayer.
Key facts:
⇒ Hamas leader buried in Qatar
⇒ Hamas called for a “day of anger”
⇒ Iran prepares its response
Hamas leader buried in Qatar
After an official funeral, marked by calls for revenge, which brought together thousands of people on Thursday in Tehran, a prayer ceremony will take place at the Imam Mohammad bin Abdel Wahhab mosque, the largest in the capital, Doha.
Ismail Haniyeh, according to the Palestinian Islamist movement, should be buried in a cemetery in Lusail, in the north of the Qatari capital, with “popular participation” […] as well as that of Arab and Islamic leaders.”
Hamas calls for protests
Hamas has called for a “day of anger” this Friday for the burial of its assassinated leader, according to a statement from the Palestinian Islamist movement released Thursday.
Hamas intends to protest the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, calling for “marches of anger to start from every mosque” after the Friday prayer. In its statement, Hamas also called on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank to demonstrate their support for Gaza, “by affirming our commitment to our land and our national rights, and by confronting the plans of the occupation.”
Iran prepares its response
According to New York Timesciting three unidentified Iranian officials, Ayatollah Khamenei, during an emergency meeting of the Supreme National Security Council on Wednesday, gave the order to strike directly at Israel in response to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.
“Israel does not know which red lines it has crossed,” Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Thursday at Fouad Shokr’s funeral, threatening Israel with an “inevitable response.” In the evening, the movement announced that it had launched dozens of rockets at northern Israel.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had threatened Israel with “severe punishment,” recited the prayer for the dead in front of the coffins of Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard, which were covered with the Palestinian flag. The Houthi rebels, also allied with Hamas, promised on Thursday a “military response” to the “dangerous escalation” they said Israel had provoked.
Biden assures Netanyahu of US ‘commitment’ against ‘all threats from Iran’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel was at a “very high level” of preparedness for any scenario, “both defensive and offensive,” according to his office.
In a phone call with Netanyahu on Thursday, US President Joe Biden “reaffirmed his commitment to Israel’s security against all threats from Iran, including from terrorist groups that act by proxy like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis” of Yemen, the US presidency stressed. A few hours later, Joe Biden declared himself “very concerned” about tensions in the Middle East and considered that the assassination of the leader of Hamas had “not helped” the situation.