“How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates negotiator?” says Qatar PM

Doha (Quds News Network)- The prime minister of Qatar, which has acted as a mediator in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, has questioned the chances for negotiations to succeed following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran on Wednesday.

“Political assassinations and continued targeting of civilians in Gaza while talks continue leads us to ask, how can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on X.

“Peace needs serious partners & a global stance against the disregard for human life,” he added.

The Palestinian group Hamas confirmed this morning in a statement the assassination of the head of its political bureau Ismail Haniyeh.

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

Iranian media reported that Haniyeh was killed by an “airborne guided projectile” that hit the residence where he was staying in the north of the capital Tehran at about 2am local time (22:30 GMT on Tuesday) at a special residence for military veterans.

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.

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