Slain Hamas chief laid to rest as Israel, US brace for Iranian retaliation

DOHA

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was buried in Qatar on Friday after being killed in Tehran in an attack blamed on Israel, which has heightened regional tensions as the US and Israel prepare for a retaliatory attack from Iran.

Haniyeh was laid to rest in Lusail, north of the capital Doha, following funeral prayers at the Gulf emirate's largest mosque attended by thousands of people.

Haniyeh, the Palestinian militant group's political chief, played a key role in negotiations for an end to nearly 10 months of war between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip.

Haniyeh and a bodyguard were killed in a pre-dawn "hit" on their accommodation in Tehran Wednesday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said. Haniyeh was in Iran to attend the swearing-in of President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday.

After the assassination of Haniyeh, Israel and the U.S. are preparing for an "unpredictable Iranian retaliatory strike on Israel as soon as this weekend," the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

“There is no point. Israel crossed all the red lines. Our response will be swift and heavy,” the Wall Street Journal quoted an Iranian diplomat.

The diplomat, who was briefed by his government, said attempts by various countries to convince Tehran not to escalate had been and would be "fruitless" given Israel’s recent attacks, according to the newspaper.

It came after the Pentagon announced that the U.S. would deploy additional military assets to the Middle East amid rising tensions.

"The Department of Defense continues to take steps to mitigate the possibility of regional escalation by Iran or Iran's partners and proxies.

“Secretary (Lloyd) Austin has ordered adjustments to U.S. military posture designed to improve U.S. force protection, to increase support for the defense of Israel, and to ensure the United States is prepared to respond to various contingencies,” spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said in a statement.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed in a telephone call Thursday, the U.S. military deployments to support Israel against threats, with the American president reaffirming his commitment to Israel's security against all threats from Iran, including its "proxy terrorist groups" Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

"The President discussed efforts to support Israel’s defense against threats, including against ballistic missiles and drones, to include new defensive U.S. military deployments," according to the White House.

Nearly 39,500 Palestinians have been killed in nearly 10 months since Israel launched its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip that began Oct. 7, following an attack by the Palestinian group, Hamas.

The onslaught has sparked increased regional tensions across the Middle East, with the latest escalation coming this week when Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated during a visit to Iran.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reportedly ordered a strike on Israel in retaliation for Haniyeh’s killing.

  'Critical moment' 

Israel, accused by Hamas, Iran and others of the attack, has not directly commented on it.

The killing of Qatar-based Haniyeh is among a series of tit-for-tat attacks since April that have sent regional tensions soaring.

Iranian officials met with represenatives of allied armed groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen on Wednesday to discuss the next steps, either "a simultaneous response from Iran and its allies or a staggered response from each party", a source close to Lebanon's Hezbollah movement told AFP.

Military chief Herzi Halevi told troops Israel would respond "very strongly" to any attack, an army statement said.

Israel ally the United States plans to bolster defenses in the region and "provide elevated support to the defense of Israel", Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said without specifying.

Israeli defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with his visiting British counterpart John Healey on Friday and called for an international coalition to support "Israel's defense against Iran and its proxies", Gallant's office said.

Healey said "we urged all sides to show restraint and dial down the tension at this critical moment".

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who visited the region this week, said there was an "urgent need for de-escalation".

"The risk that the situation on the ground could deteriorate rapidly is rising," Lammy said in a statement, calling for "an immediate ceasefire" in Gaza with hostages released and aid "getting in in sufficient quantity".

Burial of Haniyeh

Mourners lined up inside Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque, where Haniyeh's casket, draped in a Palestinian flag, was briefly carried in to the shouts of angry mourners.

Others prayed on mats outside in temperatures that reached 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit).

"He was a symbol, a resistance leader... people are angry," said Taher Adel, 25, a Jordanian student residing in the Qatari capital.

The burial was restricted to a small number of people including one of Haniyeh's daughters, Sara, who shared a video on social media showing her pouring holy water over a pebble-topped grave before lowering her head to kiss it.

Many mourners in Doha wore scarves that combined the Palestinian flag with a checkered keffiyeh pattern and the message in English: "Free Palestine".

In Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, a senior Palestinian Muslim cleric, 85-year-old Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, was detained on suspicion of inciting "terrorism" after calling Haniyeh a "martyr" in his sermon at the revered Al-Aqsa Mosque, his lawyer told AFP.

Fighting meanwhile continued in Hamas-ruled Gaza, where the civil defense agency reported several people killed in the territory's north, and the Israeli military said rockets were fired at Israel, causing no casualties.

  Gaza in ruins 

Haniyeh's assassination came hours after Israel struck a southern suburb of Beirut, killing Fuad Shukr, the military commander of Lebanese Hamas ally Hezbollah.

During the Gaza war, triggered by Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, Hezbollah and Israeli forces have engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire, and did so again on Friday.

The fighting in Gaza has sparked a dire humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory. On Friday, the UN Satellite Center said nearly two-thirds of the buildings in Gaza, or 151,265 structures, have been damaged or destroyed during the war.

On Thursday, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers for Haniyeh in Tehran, having earlier threatened "harsh punishment" for his killing.

The New York Times, citing Middle Eastern officials, has reported that Haniyeh was killed by an explosive device planted weeks ago at a Tehran guesthouse.

Asked about the report, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari told journalists "there was no other Israeli aerial attack... in all the Middle East" on the night of Shukr's killing in Lebanon.

Israel said Shukr's assassination — for which Hezbollah said retaliation was "inevitable" — was a response to rocket fire which killed 12 children last week in the annexed Golan Heights.

Iranian news agency Fars said the U.S. report of a pre-planted bomb was a "lie", insisting that the Hamas leader was killed by a "projectile".