Thousands have turned out for the funeral procession in Iran of the Hamas political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in a strike in Tehran on Wednesday.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, led prayers for the Hamas leader, whose body will be buried in Qatar.
US media have quoted Iranian officials as saying the supreme leader has ordered a direct attack against Israel, which it says was responsible for the attack on Iranian soil.
Israel has not commented on the assassination directly.
Hamas’s armed wing said the death of Haniyeh, who was widely viewed as the group’s overall leader, would “take the battle to new dimensions” and have major repercussions.
While Haniyeh’s funeral was still taking place, Israel’s military said it had confirmed that Hamas’s military chief, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an air strike in the Gaza Strip last month.
Deif was targeted in the strike on a compound in the Khan Younis area on 13 July. Hamas is yet to confirm his death.
Israel says Deif was one of the figures responsible for planning the 7 October attacks in southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed. Since the attack, Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas.
Haniyeh, who played an important role in negotiations over a ceasefire in Gaza, was killed hours after attending the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, in Tehran.
A senior Hamas official told the BBC the killing took place in the same building where Haniyeh had stayed during previous visits to Iran.
Three Hamas leaders and a number of guards were with him in the same building, they said.
Credit: bbc.com
