Al Jazeera – Augut 1, 2024
Thousands mourn Hamas leader Haniyeh in Iran amid calls for revenge
Tehran, Iran – Thousands poured into the streets of Tehran to join the funeral procession of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as Iran weighs its options having promised to avenge his assassination.
The bodies of the Palestinian political official and his bodyguard, who was killed alongside him a day earlier in Iran in a strike blamed on Israel, were marched amid chants in the capital.
Flags of Palestine, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Hamas swayed in the wind as organisers handed out posters of Haniyeh. Banners honoured the Palestinian leader and the late Iranian general Qassem Soleimani who was assassinated by the United States in 2020, among others.
“Avenging the blood of the guest is with the host, the world is waiting,” read the headline of the ultraconservative Keyhan newspaper, whose editor-in-chief is appointed by the supreme leader.
Other top daily newspapers followed the themes of revenge, defiance and bereavement.
“We must give a strong response to Israel, anything less would make many people unhappy,” 46-year-old Hamid Hajian, who attended the funeral procession, told Al Jazeera.
“It looked like there might be a ceasefire deal for Gaza but that’s over now. Talking is not helping, I hope Iran gives a stronger response than last time,” he said, referring to the April 14 attack on Israel in retaliation for an air attack on Tehran’s consulate in Syria.
Iran’s top authorities have promised “harsh” retaliation for the killing of its “guest”.
A red flag was hoisted above the Jamkaran Mosque in the holy Shia city of Qom south of Tehran to reflect the promise of blood. The Milad Tower in Tehran, an iconic building in the capital, was lit up in red overnight.
Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iranian armed forces, suggested on Thursday that the response could come as part of a coordinated effort with the so-called “axis of resistance”, a regional network of armed groups that Tehran supports.
Haniyeh ‘hit directly’ with missile
Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, told reporters at a news conference in Tehran late on Wednesday that “a missile entered the room” of Haniyeh and killed him and his bodyguard in an attack that “directly” hit the floor of the building where he was staying.
An image released late Wednesday by Sabereen News, an outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), claimed to show the site of the assassination. It showed a multistorey building partly covered with a black tarp that appeared to have sustained damage to two floors.
The guesthouse was in the Saadabad Palace Complex area in north Tehran, where foreign dignitaries are hosted and where Iranian presidents welcome heads of state on official visits.
Iranian officials have not confirmed the details of the assassination. They have so far only reported that a guided “airborne projectile” targeted Haniyeh’s residence.
An analyst interviewed by Iranian state media said Haniyeh was likely tracked since he was using the same SIM card he did outside Iran…….
Erdoğan declares national mourning after Haniyeh's assassination
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Thursday he was declaring a day of national mourning on Friday over Israel's assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh to show Türkiye's support for the Palestinian cause.
"In order to show our support for the Palestinian Cause and our solidarity with our Palestinian siblings, a day of national mourning was declared tomorrow (Friday, Aug. 2) due to Hamas Political Bureau Chairman Ismail Haniyeh's martyrdom," Erdoğan said on social media platform X.
Earlier on Wednesday, Erdoğan, who has been one of Israel's most vocal critics, condemned the assassination of his close ally and "brother" Haniyeh and said the killing would not break Palestinians' will.
He denounced it as a perfidious act and vowed to continue supporting the Palestinian cause "with all our means and strength."
"May God have mercy on my brother Ismail Haniyeh, fallen in martyrdom after this odious attack," Erdoğan wrote on X earlier on Thursday, denouncing "Zionist barbarity."
Haniyeh, who spent much time in Türkiye before the conflict started, last paid a visit to Erdoğan in Istanbul in April.
Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marched through the streets of central Istanbul late on Wednesday to protest the assassination.
The demonstrators held posters with Haniyeh's photos and banners reading, "Martyr Haniyeh, Jerusalem is our cause and your path is our path."
Protesters were chanting "Murderer Israel, get out of Palestine," "thousands of greetings from Istanbul to the resistance in Gaza" and waving Turkish and Palestinian flags during the march in the Fatih district of Istanbul.
Haniyeh’s message to Pakistan:
Gaza war would end if nuclear-armed Pakistan threatened Israel
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Ismail Haniyeh said on December 6, 2023 that Israel’s war in Gaza would end if Pakistan, a country armed with nuclear weapons, threatened Israel, according to Pakistani media reports.
Haniyeh called Pakistan "brave" and a "land of mujahideen", and said that the country's strength could potentially halt the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
He was addressing a conference, titled "The sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the responsibility of the Islamic Ummah" organized by "Pakistan Ummah Unity Assembly, a network of Islamic religious organizations.
Haniyeh said: "Pakistan is a strong country. If Pakistan threatens Israel, then the war can stop," Haniyeh said. "We have lots of expectations from Pakistan. Pakistan can force Israel to retreat." “if Israel faced "resistance from Pakistan, the perpetration of cruelty could cease"
"In this war, our 20,000 children, women, and men have been martyred," he went on to say. "At this time we are destroying Israel’s most modern weapons. We have hope we will succeed."
Unfortunately, Pakistan is ruled by a US-client regime that was installed in April 2022 after Washington helped remove the government of Imran Khan who aspires to have an independent foreign policy. Imran Khan was not willing to provide military bases to the US.
It is a known fact that Pakistan is under pressure from the US to recognize Pakistan but the Pakistan government is reluctant to do so because of anti-Israel and pro-Palestine public opinion.
The US-client government of Pakistan has banned anti-Israel and pro-Palestine protests in Pakistan.
Here are few examples:
On December 28, 2023, Pakistan's caretaker prime minister, Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar, announced a nationwide ban on New Year celebrations in solidarity with Palestinians.
On February 21, 2024, Pakistan Super League (PSL) fans were prohibited from entering Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore by security personnel for having Palestinian banners and flags during a PSL cricket match. A video was later posted showing a man collecting Palestinian flags raised by fans attending a match in Pakistan.
On May 10, 2024, Pakistan police use batons to disperse a pro-Palestinian protest in Islamabad. Demonstrators held banners and posters with slogans opposing Israel and the United States and in support of the Palestinians. Organizers vowed to continue raising their voices for the Palestinians. Students from the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan party posted videos on social media, showing that they were beaten by police who did not allow them to go toward the American embassy for a peaceful rally to denounce the Israeli strikes on Gaza.
Not surprisingly, pro-Palestinian euphoria resulted in the aftermath of the assassination of the Hamas leader Ismail Hananiyeh in Teheran on July 31, 2024, forced Pakistan government to declare Friday August 3, 2024 as national day of mourning in memory of slain Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh.
Hamas rejects Israel's report of military wing chief's death
Israel’s army says Hamas’s top military commander, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an Israeli air raid in southern Gaza on July 13.
“We can now confirm: Mohammed Deif was eliminated,” the Israeli military said on Thursday.
Izzat al-Rashq, a Hamas member, said the news of Deif’s killing was unconfirmed.
“Confirming or denying the martyrdom of any of the Qassam leaders is a matter for the leadership of the Qassam Brigades and the leadership of the movement,” he said on Telegram, referring to Hamas’s military wing.
Who was Deif?
Deif, 58, was one of the founders of the Qassam Brigades in the 1990s and led the force for more than 20 years.
Born as Mohammad Masri in 1965 in the Khan Younis refugee camp, set up after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, he became known as Mohammed Deif after joining Hamas during the first Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, which began in 1987.
Rising up the ranks, Deif developed the group’s network of tunnels and its bomb-making expertise and topped Israel’s most wanted list for decades.
His wife, seven-month-old son and three-year-old daughter were killed in an Israeli air raid in 2014.
He is believed to have survived seven previous Israeli assassination attempts, the most recent in 2021, which earned him respect and fame among many Palestinians.
The Israeli military regarded him as being part of a three-man military council that planned the October 7 attacks on southern Israel that killed 1,139 people while more than 200 were taken captive.
In an audio tape broadcast on the same day, Deif named the raid “Al-Aqsa Flood”, signalling it was payback for Israeli raids at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site.
Netanyahu’s government has promised to kill all three leaders, namely Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza; Deif; and Marwan Issa, his deputy, who was reported killed by Israel in March.
Deif is thought to have directed military operations from the tunnels and backstreets of Gaza with senior colleagues in the months since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
In May, the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor requested arrest warrants for Deif, Sinwar and Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran on Wednesday – all for alleged war crimes committed during the October 7 attacks. He also requested warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant over war crimes carried out during the war in Gaza.
At least 39,480 people have been killed and 91,128 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health.
|
Published since July 2008 |
Your donation
is tax deductable.
The Journal of America Team:
Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott
Special Correspondent
Maryam Turab
