Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, was shockingly assassinated early on Wednesday in Tehran, leaving the Middle East in the dark and raising the possibility of a regional conflict.
The Palestinian leader was in Tehran for Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration. There is little doubt as to who is behind this heinous provocation, even though Israel has not taken ownership of it. The Israelis had bombarded a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut just hours before Haniyeh was killed, ostensibly in order to target a high commander.An Israeli minister “celebrated” this tragic accomplishment on the social media platform X after Haniyeh was killed. Playing with fire, the Israelis have the ability to send the entire area into a disastrous whirlwind through their brinkmanship.
Tel Aviv has thrown the gauntlet at Tehran with the killing, and Iran will find it extremely difficult to remain silent in the face of such a serious provocation on its soil. In the center of the so-called “axis of resistance,” Israel has struck one of Iran’s closest supporters. Tehran must carry out a comprehensive internal probe to ascertain the exact means by which a person of this caliber was singled out. There are rumors that Israel has attacked Iran before. This would not be the first time. In a similar vein, prominent Iranian nuclear experts and generals have been targeted.Whatever the investigation’s findings, security was evidently inadequate, and given the spate of earlier killings, the Iranians ought to have fortified their defenses. However, retaliation is practically guaranteed. Regarding the Haniyeh murder, the supreme leader of Iran, who has the last word on all significant policy matters, declared that it is “our duty to avenge his blood”.
Strong condemnations of the killing have been coming from a number of sources. Hezbollah and the Houthis, Iran’s comrades in the “axis of resistance,” have denounced the atrocity, while Russia has called it a “unacceptable political murder.” Pakistan has denounced “Israeli adventurism,” while China has expressed its “deep concern.”Benjamin Netanyahu and his cronies have violated the sovereignty of Syria, Lebanon, and Iran by destabilizing the Middle East due to their inability to defeat Hamas in Gaza during the past almost ten months. The massacre in Gaza must stop immediately if there is to be any chance of a peaceful end to this crisis, which looks to be running out.
Naturally, the chances of a truce seem to have been permanently destroyed by the Haniyeh assassination. It is still possible for the US to pressure Israel to end its homicidal campaign. However, this is improbable in an election year when both candidates vie for the support of the Zionist lobby in Washington. The Center
