Hamas leader buried in Qatar, a “day of anger” against Israel that raises fears of a conflagration

Ismaïl Haniyeh, 61, who lived in exile in Qatar, was killed Wednesday in a strike blamed on Israel. The New York Times, however, claims that he was killed by the explosion of a bomb placed two months ago under his usual residence in the Iranian capital and detonated remotely by Mossad agents, Israeli intelligence.

Hamas' determination "reinforced"

The day after an official funeral in Tehran, a prayer ceremony was held in the north of Doha. Ismail Haniyeh was then buried in Lusail, near the Qatari capital. The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, was among the personalities present, as well as the first Iranian vice-president Mohammad Reza Aref and numerous Hamas officials, including Khaled Mechaal, 68, tipped to succeed to Ismaïl Haniyeh.

He also stressed that the death of Ismaïl Haniyeh strengthened Hamas's determination to continue the fight for a free Palestine. “From the river to the sea, Palestine will remain free […] and the Zionists have no place on the land of Palestine, no matter how many deaths they cause in our ranks," he declared.

Iran's call for "severe punishment"

Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas's political bureau, had called on the faithful to pray for the soul of Ismail Haniyeh in mosques around the world. “Let this Friday be a day of immense anger denouncing this assassination and rejecting the genocide in the Gaza Strip”, he said. Hamas member Sami Abu Zouhri added that the message “to the occupier” (Israel) is clear. “You are sinking deep into the mud and your end is closer than ever. Haniyeh's blood changes all equations,” he threatened.

Iran and Hamas have sworn vengeance against Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in Haniyeh's death, which occurred the day after Hezbollah military commander Fouad Shoukr was killed by an IDF strike in Beirut's southern suburbs. These two symbolic losses open "a new phase" conflict, according to Hezbollah and the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

Dozens of rockets fired during the night

Nearly ten months after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the threat of an extension of hostilities is growing. Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian has vowed to make Israel “regret” for its “cowardly act”, regarding the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, has called for “severe punishment”.

Hezbollah, which has spoken of a “inevitable response” coming, announced on Thursday that it had fired “dozens of rockets” on northern Israel in response to an Israeli strike on a town in southern Lebanon, Chamaa, which killed four Syrians. Senior Iranian officials also met in Tehran on Thursday with representatives of the movements they support in Lebanon (Hezbollah), Yemen (Houthis) and Iraq (the Shiite coalition Hashd al-Shaabin, in particular) to discuss possible reprisals.

Israel says it is ready for “any scenario”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that his country was ready for “any scenario”, both “offensive” and “defensive”. US President Joe Biden said Thursday night that the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh “did not help” the ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Due to his status as head of Hamas’ political bureau, Haniyeh, considered a “moderate” since his appointment as head of the movement in 2017, was at the heart of indirect talks with Israel, under the aegis of the United States, Qatar and Egypt.

France invites its nationals to leave Iran

France invites its nationals passing through Iran “to leave “as soon as possible” this country because of the "increased risk of military escalation in the region" following the assassination attributed to Israel of the leader of the Palestinian Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, can be read on Friday on the travel advice website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Paris had already advised against "strongly" à its nationals from traveling to Iran, "whatever the reason", due to tensions in the Middle East but also the arrests, denounced as arbitrary, of several French nationals by the Iranian authorities in recent years.

Furthermore, on French territory, in a letter addressed to the prefects, the Minister of the Interior requests that security be strengthened in front of Hebrew places of worship, in this context of renewed tensions in the Middle East.