The United States has urged restraint after the assassination of the leader of the terrorist group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, stoked concerns among world leaders of further conflict in the region.
The Hamas political bureau chief was killed Tuesday night during an airstrike targeting his home in the Iranian capital of Tehran after attending the inauguration of the country’s new president. Iran accused Israel of killing Haniyeh. Israel has not taken responsibility for his killing.
Iran
Tehran has since vowed to take revenge for the death of the Hamas terrorist leader. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pledged that the country would retaliate against Israel for the killing.
“Following this bitter, tragic event which has taken place within the borders of the Islamic Republic, it is our duty to take revenge,” he said in a statement on X.
“I offer my condolences to the Islamic Ummah, the Resistance Front,” he added in a separate post.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Nasser Kanaani said in a statement that the assassination would only strengthen the “bond between Tehran, Palestine, and the resistance.”
Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a July 31 press conference, addressed the threats of revenge from Iran, after Jerusalem took responsibility for the killing of Fuad Shukr, a senior commander of the Hezbollah terrorist group, in Beirut on July 30.
“Since the strike in Beirut, threats are being sounded from everywhere,” the prime minister said. “We are ready for every scenario and will stand united and determined against every threat,” while also acknowledging Israel faces “challenging days ahead.”
Netanyahu also reiterated that the war would take time and demanded stamina from Israeli citizens. He said that he has been under pressure both domestically and abroad to end the war for some time.
“All of the achievements in recent months were attained because we did not give in and because we made brave decisions in the face of great pressure at home and abroad. And I tell you it was not easy,” the prime minister stated.
He also said that in recent days, Israel has landed “crushing blows” on its three main proxies—Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
Netanyahu traveled last week to the United States to meet with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former President Donald Trump to discuss the latest developments in the Israel–Hamas war.
United States
Biden has not yet publicly commented on the incident. The president was briefed and “fully informed” of the incident, according to White House national security spokesman John Kirby.
Kirby told reporters in a briefing on July 31 that “it’s too soon” to know what these reported events could mean for the region.
“There are no signs that an escalation is imminent,” Kirby said, adding that the United States is “obviously concerned about escalation.” He also said he does not know whether the developments could have an impact on a ceasefire deal.
The United States will continue to work with its allies and make sure Israel has what it needs to defend itself, according to the spokesman, who also noted that the situation in the region remains complicated. He further declined to offer details on the killing of the terrorist leader.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken also addressed fears of a widening war on July 31. He told Channel News Asia while on a trip to Singapore that the United States was not involved or made aware of the killing and continued his calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The U.S. State Department, in a briefing on the same day, further reiterated that the United States is not responsible for the death of the Hamas leader. Deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said that the Biden administration urges restraint from all parties involved in the hope of preventing wider conflict.
“The United States, of course, will take every possible measure to appropriately and accurately protect our personnel, our interests in the region and beyond, should we need too,” he added.
Patel also said that the United States believes a Gaza ceasefire deal is “still achievable.”
Turkey
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 31 called the killing a “perfidious assassination” of his “brother” Haniyeh.
“This shameful act aims to sabotage the Palestinian cause, the glorious Gazan resistance and our Palestinian brothers’ just fight, and to intimidate Palestinians,” he wrote in a statement on X.
Palestinian Authority
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called it a “cowardly act and dangerous development” and urged Palestinians to remain united against Israel.
“We strongly denounce and condemn the assassination” of Haniyeh, the Palestinian Authority’s leader wrote on X.
“We consider it a cowardly act; this pushes us to remain more steadfast in the face of the occupation and the necessity of achieving the unity of the Palestinian forces and factions.”
Qatar
Qatar, which has been a mediator in the Gaza conflict, warned that the killing undermines peace in the region. The Qatar Foreign Ministry wrote in a statement that it considered the assassination a “heinous crime,” “dangerous escalation,” and “a major violation of international and humanitarian laws.”
Russia
The Kremlin said it “strongly condemns” the killing of the terrorist leader.
“We believe that such actions are directed against attempts to establish peace in the region and can significantly destabilize an already tense situation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a news release that it was “worth noting” that the attack took place when the Hamas leader was visiting Iran at an official invitation to attend the inauguration of the president-elect.
“It is obvious that those who organised this political assassination understood that these actions were fraught with dangerous consequences for the entire region,” it stated, adding the incident “will have an extremely negative impact on the indirect contacts between Hamas and Israel, which offered a framework for achieving a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on mutually acceptable terms.”
Russia also reiterated calls for “all the parties involved to exercise restraint” and cautioned against taking any steps that could worsen security in the region and possibly lead to a large-scale military confrontation.
United Nations
The United Nations Security Council met Wednesday in the wake of the killing.
“The international community must work together to prevent any actions that could make the conflict much bigger and wider very quickly,” Rosemary DiCarlo, U.N. under-secretary general for political affairs said Wednesday.
Israel’s representative Jonathan Miller urged the United Nations to “hold the Islamic Republic accountable for its crimes” and called Iran “the very engine driving the machinery of death and destruction that threatens us all.”
Iran accused Israel in a letter to the Council president of carrying out an attack that killed Haniyeh and claimed it was a “serious infringement” of Iran’s sovereignty.