An alarming twist in the Gaza tale

THE assassination of Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran through an ‘airborne guided projectile’ and suspected Israeli involvement in the incident have changed the entire character of the Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah war. According to reports, Haniyeh had come to Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian on July 30 and had met him the same day. He was staying in a special residence for military veterans in the north of Tehran as a guest of the Iranian Government. He was killed along with his bodyguard.
It is leant that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has forbidden official comments from his cabinet members on the matter. However, some far-right Israeli leaders have already expressed on X their happiness at the development.

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The killing is going to put the lives of overseas Jews at risk at a time when the US is keen to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible.

Haniyeh had survived four assassination attempts. Hamas said in June that 10 members of his family were killed in an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza’s Shati refugee camp. Haniyeh had then said that more than 60 of his family members had been killed since the start of the war on October 7, 2023. In April, three of his sons — Hazem, Amir and Mohammad — died when their car was bombed in the Shati camp. Four of Haniyeh’s grandchildren, three girls and a boy, were also killed in the attack, according to Hamas.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said “avenging Haniyeh’s killing” through harsh punishment was Tehran’s duty. President Pezeshkian also warned of retaliatory action. It was only on July 28 that Tehran had warned Israel that any new military ‘adventures’ in Lebanon could lead to ‘unforeseen consequences’. This was after Hezbollah had attacked Druze town of Majdal Shams in Israel, killing 12 children on July 27.
After the Majdal Shams incident, Netanyahu reportedly cut short his US trip and returned to attend a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet in Tel Aviv. According to Axios, America was very worried that such a trigger which “we have been worried about and tried to avoid for 10 months” had happened. The US was commenting on the Hezbollah bombing. While the world was expecting Israeli retaliation in Lebanon, the unexpected action in Tehran has come as a shock.
China was quick to condemn the assassination. Lin Jian, spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, said Beijing was “deeply concerned that this incident might lead to further instability in the regional situation”. It was on July 23 that China had upstaged the carefully choreographed US visit by Netanyahu by managing to release a ‘Beijing Declaration’ after hosting 14 Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Fatah, for three days in the Chinese capital. Hamas was represented by Mousa Abu Marzouk.
Mao Ning, another spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, had said on July 23 that Palestinian leaders had unanimously agreed to sink their differences, hold an international conference under the UN auspices on Palestine, form a ‘new Palestinian national council’ under the existing basic law of Palestine, establish an interim national reconciliation government, carry out reconstruction in Gaza and prepare to hold a general election.
China Daily published a picture of Foreign Minister Wang Yi with the representatives of Palestinian factions, who signed the declaration at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on July 24, the day Netanyahu delivered his address to a joint session of the US Congress.
His fourth address to the Congress, surpassing even Winston Churchill’s record of three orations, was marred by sharp attacks on him by leading US Congressmen. The Times of Israel said on July 24 that his “visit was barely registering among American officials amid dramatic developments in the US presidential race”.
It said US President Joe Biden’s ‘abrupt’ announcement on July 21 that he would address the nation on July 24, “just hours after Netanyahu’s speech”, and the absence of Vice-President Kamala Harris “due to scheduling” would “likely further divert attention from the Israeli leader”.
The Times of Israel also quoted senior US Congressmen like Senator Bernie Sanders, who called Netanyahu a ‘a war criminal’ and Senator Chris van Hollen of Maryland, “a prominent critic of the Biden administration’s Israel policies”, who refused to be ‘a political prop’ for Netanyahu. It further said Rep Jerrold Nadler, “a Democratic leader and the highest-ranking Jewish congressman”, would attend the speech but called Netanyahu “the worst leader in Jewish history since the Maccabean king who invited the Romans into Jerusalem over 2,100 years ago”.
Was this disappointing US visit the reason for Israel to reject advice from American leaders and apparently embark on a perilous journey which now leaves open all possibilities of a regional war with Iran? Or was the operation involving Haniyeh assassination already too advanced in the pipeline that it could not be withdrawn after Netanyahu’s US visit?
Mikhail Bogdanov, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, called Haniyeh’s assassination “an absolutely unacceptable political murder” which will lead to further escalation of tensions. Similar condemnation came from Turkey, Malaysia and Qatar.
Whatever may be the reason for this provocation, the consensus all over seems to be that this assassination is going to put the lives of overseas Jews at risk at a time when the US is keen to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible. Speaking to Al-Jazeera, Akiva Eldar, former Haaretz correspondent and analyst, mentioned the 1994 synagogue bombing in Argentina and said Netanyahu had betrayed the families of captives and millions of Israelis who wanted an end to the standoff.
China’s diplomatic ‘success’ in West Asia as a conciliator among Palestinians, which, together with US pressure on Netanyahu, especially through the statement of Vice-President Harris that she would “not be silent on the suffering in Gaza”, could have worked as small steps towards a Gaza ceasefire. However, the Haniyeh assassination on Iranian soil has destroyed all that.
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