Hamas spokesperson: Haniyeh’s assassination is ‘grave escalation’

Occupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- Senior Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri has described the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as a “grave escalation that will not achieve its goals.”

Zuhri has also reportedly said Hamas will wage “open war to liberate Jerusalem” and the group is “ready to pay various prices” to do so, according to local media reports.

He added that the assassination of Haniyeh will not break the will of Hamas nor the will of the Palestinian people.

Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran, the Palestinian group said in a statement on Wednesday morning. Haniyeh had traveled to Tehran to attend Tuesday’s inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. This visit marked Haniyeh’s final public appearance.

“The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas mourns to our great Palestinian people, to the Arab and Islamic nation, and to all the free people of the world: Brother, leader, martyr, Mujahid Ismail Haniyeh,” Hamas said in the statement.

“The head of the movement, who was killed in a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran, after participating in the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president.”

Israel has not yet commented on the assassination incident.

The Iranian News Agency reported that one of Haniyeh’s bodyguards was also killed when their residence in the capital city was targeted.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced that it would investigate the incident: “We are studying the dimensions of Haniyeh’s martyrdom incident in Tehran.”

On May 6, 2017, Hamas, the Palestinian political movement that rules the Gaza Strip, elected Ismail Haniyeh as the head of its political bureau, replacing Khaled Meshaal.

Haniyeh was imprisoned multiple times by Israeli occupation authorities and lived in and out of the Gaza Strip after facing deportation and assassination attempts.

Related Articles

Back to top button