Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Iran on Wednesday, has been buried following a muslim ceremony in Qatar.
The funeral took place at Qatar’s Imam Muhammed bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque, the country’s largest mosque, before his body was placed in a coffin draped in a Palestinian flag for burial in a cemetery in the town of Lusail, north of Doha.
A number of foreign dignitaries were present at the funeral, including Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
Haniyeh was killed during a visit to the Iranian capital. Iran and its allies have blamed Israel, although the Jewish state has not taken responsibility for his death.
The funeral, held under tight security, was attended by figures from Hamas and its Palestinian rival Fatah, as well as members of the public.
Hamas officials had earlier stood on the tarmac at Doha Airport waiting to receive Haniyeh’s coffin as it landed from the Iranian capital Tehran on Thursday afternoon.
Turkey and Pakistan have announced a day of mourning on Friday in Haniyeh’s honour, while Hamas called for loud angry marches in all mosques after Friday prayers to protest Haniyeh’s killing.
At another funeral for Haniyeh held in Tehran on Thursday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers. He had earlier vowed that Israel would face severe punishment for the killing.
Haniyeh had been based in Doha since around 2019. Hamas’ political office moved to the capital of Qatar in 2012, after closing its previous office in Damascus, Syria.
Haniyeh had played a key role in indirect talks with Israel on a possible ceasefire in the Gaza war.
The heads of the CIA, Mossad, the intelligence services of Egypt and Qatar attended ceasefire talks in Doha.
Haniyeh’s burial marked a week of heightened tensions in the Middle East, which escalated with the death of 12 children and teenagers in an attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Israel blamed Hezbollah and promised “severe” retaliation, although Hezbollah denied any involvement.
Hezbollah’s top commander, Fuad Shukr, was killed days later in a targeted Israeli airstrike in Beirut. Four others, including two children, were also killed. Hours later, Ismail Haniyeh, a key Hamas backer, was assassinated in Iran. He had attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel did not claim responsibility for the assassination, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said Israel had dealt devastating blows to Iranian-proxy groups in recent days.
A senior Hamas official told the BBC that Haniyeh was killed in the same building where Haniyeh had stayed during previous visits to Iran. They said three Hamas leaders and several guards had been with him in the same building.
Senior Hamas officials told the BBC that Haniyeh’s assassination left the Hamas leadership in a “state of shock”.
The circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear.
A senior Hamas official, Khalil al-Hayya, told a press conference that a rocket had hit Haniyeh “directly”, citing witnesses who were with him.
But a New York Times report quoted seven officials as saying that Haniyeh was killed by a bomb smuggled into the apartment building where he lived two months ago.
However, the BBC said it had not verified any of these claims.
Source: BBC News
