“Israel” Assassinates Haniyeh in Tehran, Hamas Vows Revenge

By Staff, Agencies

The Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has pledged to take revenge as the “Israeli” entity has assassinated its political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran.

Haniyeh “passed as a result of a treacherous Zionist raid,” the movement said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas mourns the sons of our great Palestinian people, the Arab and Islamic nation, and all the free people of the world,” it said.

Mousa Abu Marzook, a member of Hamas’ political bureau denounced the assassination as a “cowardly action” that would not go unanswered.

Senior Hamas’ spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri also reacted to the assassination, saying, “We are waging an open war to liberate [the holy occupied city of] al-Quds and are ready to pay any price.”

Other Palestinian groups joined the chorus of condemnation and condolence, while pledging to make the occupying entity pay the price of the assassination.

Maher al-Taher, international relations officer of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine [PFLP], hailed Haniyeh as a leader who made the ultimate sacrifice towards realization of the Palestinian cause.

“The Israeli enemy crosses all red lines and is pushing things towards a comprehensive war with the entire Resistance Axis,” which is “fully prepared for confrontation,” he stated.

“The enemy … will regret the sin it committed by assassinating Haniyeh and attacking Iranian sovereignty,” the Palestinian official warned.

He noted that the regime would not have been able to commit the atrocity “without American cover,” referring to the unreserved support being provided to Tel Aviv by its biggest ally, the United States.

Mohammad al-Hindi, the Islamic Jihad’s deputy secretary general, also described Haniyeh’s assassination as a “great loss” for the Palestinian nation, but insisted that the “Israeli” enemy was “completely mistaken” if it thought it could defeat the resistance by taking out its leaders.

Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, echoed the condemnations, describing the assassinations as a “cowardly action” and a “dangerous development.”

Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards [IRG] had announced the martyrdom, saying that the assassination targeting the Hamas’ leader’s residence in Tehran had also claimed the life of one of Haniyeh’s bodyguards.

Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.