Iran and Hamas blamed Israel and pledged revenge for the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the exiled political leader of Hamas. The Palestinian leader was visiting Tehran for the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian when he was killed. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Israel would receive a "severe punishment." The military wing of Hamas warned of “new dimensions" for the war with Israel. Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia and political movement, said that it shared “all the feelings of pain over the loss of this great leader" and the "feelings of anger at the enemy’s crimes."
The strike on Haniyeh followed an Israeli attack on Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah commander held responsible for the attack on the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children and teenagers on July 27. The following are reactions by Iran and its allies in the Axis of Resistance.
Iran
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on July 31, 2024: “The brave leader and prominent Palestinian mujahid, Mr. Ismail Haniyeh, joined his Creator in the early hours at dawn, and the great Resistance Front is mourning his loss. The criminal, terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our territory and has caused our grief, but it has also prepared the ground for a severe punishment.
“Martyr Haniyeh was willing to sacrifice his honorable life in this dignified battle for many years. He was prepared for martyrdom and had sacrificed his children and loved ones on this path. He was not afraid of being martyred on the path of God and in order to save the lives of God’s servants. However, following this bitter, tragic event which has taken place within the borders of the Islamic Republic, we believe it is our duty to take revenge.
“I offer my condolences to the Islamic Ummah, the Resistance Front, the courageous, proud people of Palestine, and in particular to the family and loved ones of Martyr Haniyeh and of one of his companions who was martyred beside him. May Almighty God elevate their ranks.”
President Masoud Pezeshkian on July 31, 2024: “The bond between the two proud nations of Iran and Palestine will be stronger than before, and the path of resistance and defense of the oppressed will be followed stronger than ever. The Islamic Republic of Iran will defend its territorial integrity, honor, pride and dignity, and make the terrorist invaders regret their cowardly action.”
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on July 31, 2024: “The heinous crime committed by the Zionist regime in killing Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas's political bureau, will undoubtedly be met with a harsh and painful response from the powerful Resistance Front."
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani on July 31, 2024: “Undoubtedly, the pure blood of this noted mujahid who honorably campaigned against the usurper Zionist regime in liberating the holy Quds and freeing the oppressed Palestinian nation from the clutches of Zionist occupiers will never go in vain.”
“As a supporter and accomplice of the Zionist regime in the continuation of the occupation and genocide of Palestinians, the U.S. government is responsible in committing this heinous act of terrorism.”
Major General Hossein Salami (Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Guards) on Aug. 5, 2024: Israel "has created a whirlwind of fire around itself and thought that it can prevent a nation from obtaining nuclear energy by assassinating nuclear scientists or by assassinating a revolutionary leader, fighter and freedom fighter who seeks to restore the right and reclaim their lands. Others think that with these measures they will achieve success for their survival. But these are the pits they dug for themselves, and they will gradually bury themselves in these pits, and when they receive a firm answer, they will understand that they made a mistake in the calculation, and they repeated this mistake this time."
Mission to the United Nations on Aug. 9, 2024: “Our priority is to establish a lasting ceasefire in Gaza; any agreement accepted by Hamas will also be recognized by us. The Israeli regime has violated our national security and sovereignty through its recent act of terrorism. We have the legitimate right to self-defense—a matter totally unrelated to the Gaza ceasefire.”
“However, we hope that our response will be timed and conducted in a manner not to the detriment of the potential ceasefire.”
“Direct and intermediary official channels to exchange messages have always existed between Iran and the United States, the details of which both parties prefer to remain untold.”
Hamas
Sami Abu Zuhri on July 31, 2024: “This assassination by the Israeli occupation of Brother Haniyeh is a grave escalation that aims to break the will of Hamas and the will of our people and achieve fake goals. We confirm that this escalation will fail to achieve its objectives.”
“Hamas is a concept and an institution and not persons. Hamas will continue on this path regardless of the sacrifices and we are confident of victory.”
Hamas Spokesperson Khalil al Hayya on July 31, 2024: Israel will “pay the price for a heinous crime.”
Qassam Brigades on July 31, 2024: Haniyeh’s killing “will take the battle to new dimensions and have major repercussions."
Hezbollah
Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah on Aug. 1, 2024: “The Israelis must know that the Iranians consider that their honor has been violated after the assassination of the martyr Ismail Haniyeh while he was a guest of Iran.”
“This aggression is part of the previous massacres that have been going on for decades, and it is part of the Zionist-American war on the region and its peoples.”
“Do they imagine that they will kill Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and that Iran will remain silent?”
Hezbollah statement on July 31, 2024: “We in Hezbollah share with our dear brothers in the Hamas movement all the feelings of pain over the loss of this great leader, the feelings of anger at the enemy’s crimes, the feelings of pride that the leaders in our movements are leading their people and their mujahideen to martyrdom.”
Palestinian Islamic Jihad
Deputy Secretary General Muhammad al Hindi on July 31, 2024: “This assassination is not only directed at the Palestinian resistance and Hamas, in particular, but it is also directed at Iran.”
“Israel is on the verge of collapse, and its reactions reflect confusion and inability to achieve any of its goals. Israel is facing such resistance for the first time in its history.”
Houthis
Leader Abdul Malik al Houthi on July 31, 2024: “There has to be a military response to these crimes, which are shameless and dangerous, and constitute a major escalation by the Israeli enemy.”
"We will spare no effort, with God's permission and in cooperation with our brothers in the Resistance Axis in avenging the martyr and all the martyrs and the injustice suffered by the Palestinian people."
Supreme Revolutionary Committee head Mohammed Ali al Houthi on July 31, 2024: “Targeting Ismail Haniyeh is a heinous terrorist crime and a flagrant violation of laws and ideal values.”
Kataib Sayiid al Shuhada
Leader Abu Ala Al Walai on July 31, 2024: “The enemy has begun to respond to its defeats on the northern front by bombing Syria, and assassinated a commander in Tehran in response to the increase in the number of its dead in January.”
“We repeat our call to the nation that we are the first to support and strengthen the unity of the arenas from our enemy.”
“The operations of the Iraqi resistance have gone through three stages so far, targeting the occupation in Iraq, the depth of the usurping entity, and joint qualitative operations with Ansar Allah.”
“The enemy has violated all the rules of engagement and there is a fourth stage and another sincere promise, when the response to the response will be a devastating response with a devastating impact.”
“If Ismail Haniyeh is martyred, a hundred Haniyehs will come, and if Mohsen Shukr is martyred, a thousand Mohsens will come..."
Kataib Hezbollah
Statement on July 31, 2024: “The Zionist-American enemy’s habit is treachery and killing children and innocent civilians when the fire of war flares up and its flames rise, and men stand up to it and break its arrogance in the fields of jihad.”
“The enemy's assassination of the head of the political bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, expresses its inability to confront resistance methods on the battlefield.”
“The blood of the leader Haniyeh was treacherously shed by the Zionist-American enemy at his guest house in Tehran, thus violating all the rules of engagement, thinking that this would break the resolve of the resistance fighters in Palestine. But how could he do that when the free people have veins in which the blood of manhood and resistance flow.”
Asaib Ahl al Haq
Qais Al Khazali on July 31, 2024: “With pride, dignity, nobility and honor, we mourn the passing of the immortal martyr and the great leader, Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, who died on the path of jihad and resistance, defending the sanctity of Islam, and Arab Palestine, and at the hands of the most corrupt and unjust of creation. Crime, tyranny and arrogance. This man, who sacrificed his children, brothers, sisters, and relatives in the path of his jihad, is true evidence of his great sincerity and his belief in his cause, which he gave his honorable life to defend. The blood of the martyrs and leaders, as is always the case, increases. The resistance and the resistors, with faith, steadfastness, strength, and determination, proceed to achieve their noble goals as we offer our condolences to our brothers in the Islamic Resistance Palestinian, the oppressed Palestinian people, and all resistance movements and free people in the world. We affirm our pledge to continue in the path of the martyrs as well. The martyr leader said, “Either victory or martyrdom.” And unto God and to Him we shall return."
Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba
Statement on July 31, 2024: "The Zionists and Americans have opened the doors of hell"
These “assassinations... will not deter us, but strengthen our determination.”
Popular Mobilization Forces
Statement on July 31, 2024: “Day after day, the forces of evil and arrogance persist in shedding blood and violating sovereignty through blatant attacks. What happened in the brutal aggressive operation against our forces in the Popular Mobilization in the north of Babil Governorate, calls on us to carry out all our national, legal and legitimate responsibilities in defending the sovereignty and dignity of Iraq, and to unify efforts to take an immediate decision to withdraw foreign forces from our country. The coincidence of this attack with the criminal operation carried out by the usurping entity to assassinate the martyr brother, the leader Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of the Hamas movement, exposes the enemies' plans to ignite the region and expand the circle of war and aggression.”