The funeral of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Iran on Wednesday, is being held in Qatar.
Funeral prayers for Haniyeh might be held on the Imam Mohammed bin Abdul Wahab Mosque, the most important in Qatar, earlier than being buried in a cemetery within the metropolis of Lusail, north of Doha.
Distinguished figures within the Hamas motion – together with his former chief Khaled Meshaal – stood on the tarmac at Doha airport because the airplane carrying Haniyeh’s coffin landed from Iran on Thursday afternoon.
Haniyeh was killed throughout a go to to the Iranian capital. Iran and its allies blame Israel, however Israel has not but claimed accountability for his demise.
Hamas mentioned “Arab and Islamic leaders”, different Palestinian factions and the general public will attend.
Turkey and Pakistan declared a day of mourning for Haniyeh on Friday, whereas Hamas referred to as for “roaring offended marches… from each mosque” to protest Haniyeh’s killing after Friday prayers.
At a separate funeral for Haniyeh in Tehran on Thursday, Iran’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed that Israel could be “severely punished” for the killing.
Haniyeh has been stationed in Doha since roughly 2019.
Haniyeh performed a key function in oblique negotiations with Israel over a possible ceasefire within the Gaza struggle.
The talks in Doha had been attended by the heads of the CIA, Mossad and the Egyptian and Qatari intelligence companies
Haniyeh’s funeral capped per week of heightened tensions within the Center East, additional heightened by an assault within the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 kids and youngsters.
Israel blames Hezbollah and vows “extreme” revenge, however Hezbollah denies involvement.
Days later, senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed in a focused Israeli airstrike in Beirut. 4 different individuals had been additionally killed, together with two kids.
Hours later, Ismail Haniyeh, a number one Hamas supporter, was assassinated in Iran. He was visiting to attend the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
Israel has not claimed accountability for the assassination, however Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later mentioned Israel had carried out “devastating strikes” in opposition to Iranian proxy teams in current days.
A senior Hamas official informed the BBC that the killing happened in the identical constructing the place Haniyeh had stayed throughout a earlier go to to Iran. They mentioned three Hamas leaders and a few guards had been in the identical constructing with him.
The precise circumstances of his demise stay unclear.
A senior Hamas official informed the BBC that Haniyeh’s killing had left the Hamas management “in a state of shock”.
Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya informed a information convention {that a} missile hit Haniyeh “immediately”, citing witnesses who had been with Hamas.
However in a report New York OccasionsThe newspaper quoted seven officers as saying Haniyeh was killed by a bomb smuggled into his constructing two months in the past.
The BBC has not been in a position to verify these claims.
