Hamas, Iran vow 'harsh' response to killing of Ismail Haniyeh

Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news on the Mideast for Wednesday, July 31. For the latest, view our file for Thursday, Aug. 1.

Hamas' top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed Wednesday in an apparent assassination at his residence in Tehran, drawing reprisal pledges from the militant group and Iran and fueling deeper concern that Israel's war in Gaza could rapidly expand across the Middle East.

Haniyeh and his bodyguard were killed after attending an inauguration ceremony for the new Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, Hamas and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced.

Hamas and Iran immediately blamed Israel, which has pledged to take down Hamas leaders responsible for the Oct. 7 attack that left almost 1,200 people dead and about 250 taken hostage.

Speaking to the nation in Hebrew, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not address Haniyeh's death but said, according to a translation: "We are not going to be silent. We'll make everyone pay the price, everyone that murders us, anyone that takes our children.''

Haniyeh's death took place just hours after Israel confirmed its "intelligence-based elimination" of top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr outside the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. was not involved and stressed the "imperative of getting a cease-fire" in Gaza.

Who was Ismail Haniyeh?What to know about the Hamas leader killed in Iran

Developments:

∎ The U.S. State Department is advising Americans not to travel to Lebanon in light of "rising tensions'' between Israel and Hezbollah. On Wednesday the department increased its Lebanon travel advisory to four, the highest level, and said U.S. citizens in Lebanon should be prepared to shelter in place if hostilities grow.

∎ Khaled Meshaal, the Qatar-based second-in-command who in 1997 survived an assassination attempt by Israel, is expected to succeed Haniyeh, according to Hamas officials and regional analysts.

∎ United Airlines confirmed to USA TODAY that it's suspending daily flights to Israel, beginning with the scheduled Wednesday night flight from Newark Airport in New Jersey to Tel Aviv, for security reasons.

∎ Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declared a day of mourning for Haniyeh's death and called his killing "a cowardly act and a dangerous development,'' the state-run Wafa news agency reported. The PA, which controls part of the West Bank, has a longstanding rivalry with Hamas. However, the PA's leading faction, Fatah, reached a deal with Hamas last week to form a Gaza government together at an unspecified point.

Hamas, Iran pledge retaliation

Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, promised a strong response to Haniyeh's death, calling the assassination "incentive for everyone to back and support the resistance" in Gaza and elsewhere. The group said in a statement that Israel "miscalculated" by killing resistance leaders and violating the sovereignty of Iran and Lebanon.

"The criminal assassination of leader Haniyeh in the heart of the Iranian capital is a watershed and dangerous event that takes the war to new levels and will have enormous consequences for the entire region," the statement said

Pezeshkian, Iran's president, said Israel would regret its "cowardly action." Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, said it was his nation's responsibility to take action since the attack took place in Iran. Khamenei ordered Iranian forces Wednesday to hit Israel directly, the New York Times reported, although the scope of the attack and whether it would trigger an escalation remain unclear.

"The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our beloved guest inside our house and made us mournful, but it paved the way for a harsh punishment to be imposed," Khamenei said in a statement.

Even less-directly impacted Middle East nations like Qatar and Egypt were critical of the killing. Both have been playing a mediating role in the negotiations for a cease-fire and the release of hostages.

"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?" Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on social media.

How will Iran retaliate?

Regional analyst Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official, told USA TODAY he expects Iran will use its proxies, including Hezbollah, to target Israel in retaliation for both attacks. Likely targets would be significant Israeli military installations rather than civilians or civil infrastructure, he said.

"The calculation against a direct response likely includes the understanding that a direct attack on Israel could potentially reinitiate the U.S.-led defensive coalition," Melamed said. "Iran is walking a tightrope in needing to respond without sucking itself and Israel into a broader pattern of escalation that brings a significant Israeli response to its homeland.”

Mideast war concerns:Hezbollah and Israel trade attacks, raising fears of a wider war

Netanyahu defiant against 'pressure from many places'

Netanyahu’s defiant address appeared to be aimed not only at Israeli citizens, of whom he requested patience as they clamor for the hostages’ return, but also likely the Biden administration, which has publicly supported Israel while demanding Netanyahu curb the assault on Gaza.

“People said to me, ‘Finish the war,’’’ Netanyahu said, according to a translation of his Hebrew-language speech. “We exhausted what we could do, and we can’t win. I wasn’t giving in to these voices then or today. If I was giving in, we would not get rid of (Hamas).’’

Netanyahu touted the successes of the Israeli attacks, particularly the killing of Shukr, and said Israel is closing in on the framework of a hostage deal while making sure Gaza will no longer present a threat.

“All these achievements in the last few months we managed because we took brave decisions, and it wasn’t easy,’’ he said. “I had to make sure not to be under pressure from many places.’’

Killing could doom cease-fire talks

At the time of his killing, Haniyeh was playing a leading role in negotiations to reach a cease-fire with Israel in exchange for freeing hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, where they have been for nearly 10 months.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters it was too soon to know how Haniyeh's death will impact efforts to reach an agreement, which have stalled for months.

"It was always complicated. It remains complicated,'' Kirby said. "And the reports coming out of the region, as we've seen over the last 24 to 48 hours, certainly don't make it less complicated."

Iran has long accused Israel of carrying out targeted assassinations on its soil, including of its top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in 2021. The adversaries have also long fought a so-called shadow war, which spilled out into the open for the first time in April when they shattered a taboo by directly attacking each other with limited strikes.

Iran expert Trita Parsi, who is the co-founder of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a Washington think tank, said if it's confirmed Israel killed Haniyeh, it may "end serious expectations of a cease-fire deal," damage renewed U.S.-Iran diplomacy expected with Pezeshkian's administration and "trigger an escalatory spiral."

Netanyahu accused of intentionally expanding war

Michael DiMino, a former CIA intelligence analyst and military expert at Defense Priorities, a Washington think tank, said Iran and Hezbollah will be "under immense pressure" to respond forcefully. DiMino added that the U.S. will likely "reflexively" send more assets to the region.

Iranian Abbas Aslani, a senior research fellow at the Tehran-based Center for Middle East Strategic Studies, told Al Jazeera he expects a harsh response from Iran. He, like Hamas and others, accused Netanyahu of trying to expand the war in Gaza, where nearly 40,000 Palestinians have died in Israel's retaliatory attacks.

"Over the past nine months, Israel has been making efforts to extend and escalate the war to a broader regional scale," Aslani said. "They also aim to involve the U.S. in this conflict."

Washington working to ease tensions

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, on a trip in the Philippines, said Wednesday the U.S. is trying to "take the temperature down." He said he had no additional information on the reports of Haniyeh's death.

Haniyeh, the former prime minister of Gaza, was Hamas' top leader, known for his tough-talking rhetoric as the face of the group. From his headquarters in Qatar he was in charge of the group's international relations. Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, the Gaza-based leaders of Hamas' military wing, are believed to be the masterminds behind the group's Oct. 7 attacks.

Haniyeh's killing makes hostage deal 'more challenging,' Sen. Cardin says

Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Haniyeh's killing "makes it much more challenging" to secure an agreement for a truce and release of the hostages, pointing out Haniyeh was one of Hamas' lead negotiators.

Cardin was not surprised Israel would target Shukr, saying the Hezbollah commander had "blood on his hands," but expressed concern that Shukr's assassination taking place deep into Lebanon could escalate a simmering conflict.

"Escalation is not in Israel's interest, it's not in the United States' interest, it's not in the region's interest," Cardin said.

− Riley Beggin

Services Thursday in Tehran, Friday in Doha

A funeral service will be held for Haniyeh in Tehran on Thursday, Hamas said in a statement. Iran' Mehr News Agency said Khamenei will lead prayers in a ceremony at the University of Tehran before a funeral procession in the capital city. Haniyeh's body will then be transferred to the Qatari capital of Doha for services Friday, and he will be buried there. The services are expected to draw thousands of mourners.

Shukr's body was found Wednesday underneath rubble from Tuesday's strike in the outskirts of Beirut. Also Wednesday, services were held for two children killed in the blast, with mourners chanting "death to Israel" and "America is the Great Satan." Israel said that attack was in retaliation for a rocket attack on a soccer field in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday that killed 12 people, mostly children.

Contributing: Joshuan Rivera, USA TODAY; Reuters. Hjelmgaard reported from Paris, France. Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison; Kim Hjelmgaard @khjelmgaard