TEHRAN: Hamas said Wednesday its political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a Zionist strike in Iran, where he was attending the swearing-in of the new president, and vowed the act "will not go unanswered".
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei too threatened "harsh punishment" for Haniyeh's killing, saying: "We consider it our duty to seek revenge for his blood as he was martyred in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran."
The Zionist entity declined to comment on the Tehran strike, which came after it struck a Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut on Tuesday, targeting a senior commander of the Lebanese militant group it blamed for a deadly weekend rocket strike on the Golan Heights.
The Gulf emirate of Qatar which has been spearheading efforts with Egypt and the United States to broker a ceasefire in Gaza, said the killing of Haniyeh, Hamas's lead negotiator, threw the whole process into doubt.
"Brother leader, mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement, died in a Zionist strike on his residence in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of the new (Iranian) president," the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.
Hamas political bureau member Musa Abu Marzuk vowed the group would retaliate. "The assassination of leader Ismail Haniyeh is a cowardly act and will not go unanswered," he said.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards also announced the death, saying Haniyeh's residence in Tehran was hit and he was killed along with a bodyguard.
Iranian media said the 2:00 am (2230 GMT) strike targeted "the special residences for war veterans in north Tehran" where Haniyeh was staying.
Haniyeh had travelled to Tehran to attend Tuesday's swearing-in of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Iran declared three days of mourning.
An "official and public" funeral ceremony for Haniyeh will be held in Tehran on Thursday before his body is flown to Qatar, his base in recent years, for burial on Friday, Hamas said.
Qatar says Gaza talks in doubt
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas condemned Haniyeh's killing as a "cowardly act". Palestinian factions in the illegally-occupied West Bank called for a general strike and protest marches across the territory. The Zionist entityís Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for its October 7 attacks.
Qatar's prime minister, who has spearheaded efforts to broker a truce and hostage release deal between the Zionist entity and Hamas, said Haniyeh's killing threw the whole mediation process into doubt.
"How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?" Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani asked in a post on X.
"Peace needs serious partners."
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that a ceasefire in Gaza was still the "imperative".
Speaking at a forum in Singapore, Blinken refused to comment directly on the killing of Haniyeh, but he said reaching a ceasefire in Gaza "is the enduring imperative".
Speaking in a interview with Channel News Asia, Blinken said the United States was "not aware of or involved in" the strike that killed Haniyeh.
Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators had met with negotiators from the Zionist entity in Rome on Sunday in their latest push for a deal as international pressure for a ceasefire mounts. Haniyeh's killing "was a mistake as it threatens the possibility of having a hostage deal," said Anat Noy, a resident of the coastal city of Haifa.
The Tehran strike which killed Haniyeh came hours after the Zionist entity said it had killed senior Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in a strike on the group's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs.
Hezbollah said Wednesday that Shukr was inside the building hit by the Zionist entity but that his fate remained unknown.
The Zionist entityís military said its Tuesday strike had "eliminated" Shukr, a top Hezbollah commander it blamed for carrying out a weekend rocket attack on the annexed Golan Heights that killed 12 children in a Druze Arab town.
Chairing a cabinet meeting Wednesday, Lebanese Prime Minister Naib Mikati warned: "The strike on the southern suburbs is a strike on... efforts for calm." — AFP