PinnedHaniyeh’s death is a big blow for Hamas, and the assassination sends a message to not only Hamas, but Israel’s enemies in general, experts say.
“Haniyeh's demise signifies the end to impunity and tacit acceptance and legitimation of the Hamas leadership," said foreign affairs expert and human rights attorney Irina Tsukerman.
She said the strike on Haniyeh in Tehran "sends a warning signal that no one is safe from justice, that Iran cannot protect its vassals even inside its borders, and that the same fate awaits anyone, no matter how high up, rich, or 'normalized' who continues presenting a threat to Israel.”
The U.S. State Department escalated its Lebanon travel advisory on Wednesday from a Level 3 “Reconsider Travel” status to a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” notice, citing rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
The advisory states Americans already in Lebanon should depart as soon as possible. It further warns that those Americans choosing to remain should be aware of the risk of potential conflict and should be prepared to shelter in place should conditions worsen.
Israel and Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, have traded fire across the Israel–Lebanon border since October 2023.
John Kirby, White House national security communications adviser, said that there are "no signs that an escalation is imminent" in the aftermath of Haniyeh’s death.
However, he said that the Biden administration is "obviously concerned" about an escalation.
Iran has vowed to retaliate.
Hezbollah confirmed on Wednesday that its senior commander, Fuad Shukr, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut a day earlier.
Lebanese authorities had been searching through the rubble of the targeted residential building since the Tuesday airstrike.
Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, said its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, will speak at Shukr’s funeral procession on Aug. 1.
In a televised address on Wednesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Israel would “exact a heavy price from any aggression against us on any front.”
“There are challenging days ahead of us,” he added.
The televised address represented Netanyahu’s first direct public comments following the strikes targeting Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
The United Nations Security Council announced it will convene an emergency meeting at 4 p.m. EST on Wednesday to address the escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Iranian Ambassador to the U.N. Amir Saeid Iravani requested an emergency Security Council meeting earlier on Wednesday, while insisting both Israel and the United States bear responsibility for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Iravani called for the Security Council to condemn Haniyeh’s assassination and “take immediate action to ensure accountability” for both the assassination and an Israeli strike in Beirut targeting Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr on July 30.
In an interview with Channel News Asia, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the United States was “not aware of or involved in” the strike taking out Haniyeh.
“The best way to bring the temperature down everywhere, put us on a better path, is through a cease-fire in Gaza,” he said.
The secretary also talked with Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi on July 31 regarding the latest events in the Middle East, according to a readout by the State Department.
The government of Qatar, which has acted as an intermediary for cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, condemned the airstrike that killed Haniyeh in Tehran.
“Political assassinations & continued targeting of civilians in Gaza while talks continue leads us to ask, how can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?” Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani wrote in a social media post on Wednesday.
“Peace needs serious partners & a global stance against the disregard for human life,” he said.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) joined in condemning the strike that killed Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a Wednesday press conference that the CCP is concerned “the incident may plunge the region into greater turmoil.”
The spokesperson for the regime reiterated the CCP’s prior calls for a “comprehensive and permanent cease-fire in Gaza” and urged all sides to avoid escalating the ongoing conflict.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement condemning Haniyeh’s killing.
“It is obvious that those who organised this political assassination understood that these actions were fraught with dangerous consequences for the entire region,” the Russian Foreign Ministry statement read.
In particular, the Russian Foreign Ministry predicted the strike will undermine the ongoing negotiations to reach a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned Haniyeh’s killing as a “treacherous assassination.”
In a Wednesday press statement, the Turkish president said Haniyeh’s killing was meant to disrupt the Palestinian cause and intimidate the Palestinian people.
Erdogan further urged the Islamic world to take a stronger stance to apply pressure for an end to the acts “perpetrated by Israel in our region.”
Ismail Haniyeh was the political director of Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, from 2017 through to his death on July 31. He succeeded Khaled Mashal, who was in the position between 1996 and 2017, when he stepped down.
Haniyeh was killed in Tehran in what is believed to be an Israeli strike. He was in Iran for the inauguration of Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
Haniyeh was 62 years old.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin talked with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, according to a Pentagon statement.
The two talked about Israel’s strike in Lebanon on July 30 that reportedly killed Hezbollah’s second-in-command, Fuad Shukr, who was believed to be responsible for the strike on a soccer field in Israel’s north over the weekend that killed 12 people.
Israel’s Defense Ministry confirmed the call and said that Gallant talked about what the ministry called the Jewish state’s “precise operation” that apparently took out Shukr.
Taher Al-Nunu, a spokesman for Haniyeh, said the blast that killed the Hamas political leader came from a direct missile impact on the room of the residence he was staying in.
Al-Nunu described the missile strike as a “grave crime” and vowed there would be a proportional response.
Iranian leaders signaled they intend to retaliate against Haniyeh’s death on their soil.
In a statement carried by the official Iranian state media outlet, IRNA, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei attributed the attack to “Zionist” actors and said the killing would invite a “harsh” response.
“The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our beloved guest inside our house and made us mournful, but it paved the way for a harsh punishment to be imposed on it,” Khamenei said.
Ismail Haniyeh, the political chairman of Hamas—a U.S.-designated terrorist group—was killed in a missile strike in the room where he was staying in Tehran on July 31, Hamas and Iranian officials have confirmed.
Hamas Leader Haniyeh Killed in Tehran, Iran Says
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed while in Tehran, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said early July 31.Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziyad al-Nakhaleh was also in Tehran for the inauguration.
The IRGC said in a statement that the incident is under investigation, state media reported.
Israel has been fighting Hamas in Gaza since the terrorist group launched an attack on border cities in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 civilians and military members as hostages.
Haniyeh, who assumed the leadership position in 2017, had been living in Qatar along with other Hamas leaders. He had played a major part in building up Hamas’s fighting capacity, in part by strengthening ties with Iran. Since Haniyeh’s departure from Gaza, Yahya Sinwar has been the Hamas chief in the Gaza Strip.
Previously, three of Haniyeh’s sons were killed on April 10 in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip.
Two-Front War
In response to an attack in Israel’s Golan Heights on July 27 that killed 12 children, Israel on July 30 struck a Hezbollah stronghold near Beirut, killing a commander that it says was responsible for the Golan Heights blast. The July 30 attack on Beirut also killed three others.Israel’s fight against Iran-backed Hezbollah has intensified in recent weeks, while it has been fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to retaliate against Hezbollah for its July 27 attack.
Prior to the soccer field attack by Hezbollah, the two sides had been targeting each other with rockets.