Funerals held for Haniyeh in Tehran, Doha, elsewhere
Iran and Qatar held separate funeral ceremonies for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Thursday and Friday, respectively, after he was assassinated by the Israeli regime in Iran’s capital Tehran. Massive crowds took part in funeral processions both in Tehran and Doha.
The Hamas chief was in the Iranian capital to attend Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Haniyeh and his security guard were killed in an Israeli attack on his residence in northern Tehran early Wednesday.
On Thursday, the Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei led funeral prayers for the Hamas politburo chief and his security guard at Tehran University.
In a statement issued the day before, Ayatollah Khamenei warned the Israeli regime of a “harsh response” for the assassination of Haniyeh, saying it is the Islamic Republic’s duty to avenge the blood of the Palestinian resistance leader.
“The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our homeland and left us bereaved, but it also prepared the ground for a harsh punishment for itself,” the Leader said.
‘Our duty to react’
Addressing the Thursday ceremony, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said the Israeli regime is desperate in the face of resistance fighters, adding that the regime’s crimes are rooted in its inability to counter the resistance
forces.
Qalibaf said the era of “hit and run” for Israel and its main ally US has come to an end.
“It is our duty to react in the right place and at the right time,” he pointed out.
Last farewell in Doha
Also in Qatar, thousands of people bid farewell to the Hamas leader on Friday.
The people gathered at the Arab country’s largest mosque, where Haniyeh’s casket, draped in a Palestinian flag, was taken before leaving again for burial in Lusail, north of Doha.
Dozens of foreign dignitaries and representatives from Palestinian groups and factions, including senior Fatah figure Mahmoud al-Aloul also attended the funeral ceremony in Doha.
Iran’s Vice-President Mohammad-Reza Aref, heading an Iranian delegation, also took part in the ceremony.
Before leaving for Doha, Aref said that the message of the Iranian people and the Islamic Revolution is solidarity with the oppressed people of Palestine.
Funerals in other
countries
Several other Muslim countries, including Pakistan, Indonesia, Turkey, and Yemen also held funeral ceremonies for the Hamas leader.
Moreover, the assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran drew condemnation from many countries across the world.
US President Joe Biden said that the assassination of Hamas leader “doesn’t help” the talks over a potential cease-fire in Gaza.
Biden added that he was “very concerned” about rising tensions in the Middle East. “We have the basis for a cease-fire. He [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] should move on it, and they [Hamas] should move on
it now.”
Meanwhile, airlines are canceling flights to Israel as concerns grow over the possible escalation of conflict in the region after the assassination of Haniyeh.
Over the past few days, Air India, Germany’s Lufthansa Group, US carriers United Airlines and Delta Air, and Italy’s ITA Airways said they had suspended flights to Tel Aviv.