Month: August 2024

Thousands gathered at a mosque in the Qatari capital for the funeral of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in an Israeli attack in Tehran on Wednesday. 

Large crowds attended Friday prayers at Doha’s Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque, the largest mosque in Qatar, followed by Haniyeh’s funeral.

Heavy security measures were in place at the mosque, Al-Jazeera reported, with attendees searched and phones prohibited during the service. 

Dozens of foreign dignitaries and representatives from Palestinian groups and factions were among those in attendance.

This includes senior Fatah figure Mahmoud al-Aloul, in what will be seen as a show of unity given the over 17-year fallout between Hamas and Fatah. 

Last week, Fatah, Hamas and several other Palestinian factions signed a unity agreement in Beijing for a post-war framework in Gaza. 

Mustafa Barghouti, of the Palestinian National Initiative, is also reported to have travelled to Qatar for the funeral, according to Al-Jazeera.

Turkey sent a high-level delegation to the funeral. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with senior Hamas member Khaled Meshaal on Friday to express his condolences over Haniyeh’s death. The delegation included Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin.

After the service, Haniyeh will be buried at the Founder Imam Cemetery in Lusail, north of Doha. 

Haniyeh was assassinated by an explosive device secretly smuggled into Tehran weeks ago, according to a report in the New York Times on Thursday. 

Citing seven Middle Eastern officials and a US official, the report stated that a bomb was hidden in a guest house run by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) around two months ago. 

Haniyeh had stayed in the guest house on several occasions while visiting Tehran, according to the sources. 

On Wednesday, after confirming Haniyeh was inside his room at the guest house, the bomb was detonated remotely, according to five of the officials. The blast also killed his bodyguard. 

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the killing, as it rarely comments on operations carried out abroad. However, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Hamas have directly blamed Israel for the attack and promised revenge.

US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that Haniyeh’s killing had “not helped” with ceasefire talks and that he was “very concerned” about rising tensions in the region.

A funeral procession was held for Haniyeh in Tehran on Thursday. 

Khamenei led the prayers over the coffins of the Hamas leader and his bodyguard at a ceremony at the University of Tehran. 

Mourners waved Palestinian flags and threw flowers on the coffins. Some chanted “Death to Israel” and “Death to America”. 

Iran and its allies in the region, known collectively as the Axis of Resistance, met in Tehran on Thursday to discuss possible retaliation for the assassination, according to Reuters. 

Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Yemen’s Houthis, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran-backed Iraqi paramilitary groups are due to attend, sources told Reuters. 

Thousands gathered at a mosque in the Qatari capital for the funeral of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in an Israeli attack in Tehran on Wednesday. 

Large crowds attended Friday prayers at Doha’s Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque, the largest mosque in Qatar, followed by Haniyeh’s funeral.

Heavy security measures were in place at the mosque, Al-Jazeera reported, with attendees searched and phones prohibited during the service. 

Dozens of foreign dignitaries and representatives from Palestinian groups and factions were among those in attendance.

This includes senior Fatah figure Mahmoud al-Aloul, in what will be seen as a show of unity given the over 17-year fallout between Hamas and Fatah. 

Last week, Fatah, Hamas and several other Palestinian factions signed a unity agreement in Beijing for a post-war framework in Gaza. 

Mustafa Barghouti, of the Palestinian National Initiative, is also reported to have travelled to Qatar for the funeral, according to Al-Jazeera.

Turkey sent a high-level delegation to the funeral. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with senior Hamas member Khaled Meshaal on Friday to express his condolences over Haniyeh’s death. The delegation included Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin.

After the service, Haniyeh will be buried at the Founder Imam Cemetery in Lusail, north of Doha. 

Haniyeh was assassinated by an explosive device secretly smuggled into Tehran weeks ago, according to a report in the New York Times on Thursday. 

Citing seven Middle Eastern officials and a US official, the report stated that a bomb was hidden in a guest house run by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) around two months ago. 

Haniyeh had stayed in the guest house on several occasions while visiting Tehran, according to the sources. 

On Wednesday, after confirming Haniyeh was inside his room at the guest house, the bomb was detonated remotely, according to five of the officials. The blast also killed his bodyguard. 

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the killing, as it rarely comments on operations carried out abroad. However, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Hamas have directly blamed Israel for the attack and promised revenge.

US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that Haniyeh’s killing had “not helped” with ceasefire talks and that he was “very concerned” about rising tensions in the region.

A funeral procession was held for Haniyeh in Tehran on Thursday. 

Khamenei led the prayers over the coffins of the Hamas leader and his bodyguard at a ceremony at the University of Tehran. 

Mourners waved Palestinian flags and threw flowers on the coffins. Some chanted “Death to Israel” and “Death to America”. 

Iran and its allies in the region, known collectively as the Axis of Resistance, met in Tehran on Thursday to discuss possible retaliation for the assassination, according to Reuters. 

Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Yemen’s Houthis, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran-backed Iraqi paramilitary groups are due to attend, sources told Reuters. 

Turkey has banned Instagram following a row over the site’s alleged crackdown on users sharing condolences for late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

The country’s Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) published the decision on its website on Friday, but gave no official reason for the ban.

“Instagram.com has been blocked by the decision of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority dated 02/08/2024 and numbered 490.05.01.2024.-608983,” the site said.

Turkish officials have offered their condolences following Haniyeh’s death, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declaring 2 August a national day of mourning.

“May God have mercy on my brother Ismail Haniyeh, fallen in martyrdom after this odious attack,” Erdogan wrote on social media on Thursday, further denouncing “Zionist barbarity.”

On Wednesday, the Turkish presidency’s director of communications Fahrettin Altun slammed Instagram, claiming it was “impeding people from publishing messages of condolence for the martyr Haniyeh.”

“This is censorship, pure and simple,” he said on X (formerly Twitter).

Turkey regularly blocks social media platforms, usually in the wake of disasters such as earthquakes or terror attacks, citing either national security or the spread of misinformation.

Critics usually accuse the authorities of trying to stifle criticism of the government.

Turkish digital rights expert Yaman Akdeniz condemned the Instagram ban as “arbitrary” and said it needed court approval to be legal.

“No judge should approve such a request,” he wrote.

Middle East Eye contacted Instagram’s parent company Meta for a comment but had received no response at the time of publication.

According to a report in the New York Times on Thursday, Haniyeh was assassinated by an explosive device that was secretly smuggled into Tehran weeks ago.

Citing seven Middle Eastern officials and a US official, the report said a bomb had been hidden in a guesthouse in the capital run by Iran‘s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) around two months ago. 

Haniyeh had stayed in the guesthouse on several occasions while visiting Tehran, according to the sources. The explosion also killed the Hamas political leader’s bodyguard.

Iranian sources, however, have dismissed the claim that a bomb was used as false.