Response to assassination will be ‘special operation’: Iran
The Permanent Mission of Iran to the United Nations has posted a message on X saying that the “response to an assassination will indeed be special operations—harder and intended to instill deep regret in the perpetrator”.
The message comes in apparent reference to the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, as he was visiting to congratulate the new president on winning the elections.
Iran’s president has promised to make Israel “regret [its] cowardly action”, as Supreme Leader Khamenei said avenging Haniyeh’s killing is Tehran’s duty.
The response to an assassination will indeed be special operations—harder and intended to instill deep regret in the perpetrator.
— I.R.IRAN Mission to UN, NY (@Iran_UN) July 31, 2024
Jovial mood in Israel after Haniyeh assassination
In Israel, the mood was buoyant as Israelis welcomed what they saw as a major achievement in the war against Hamas.
“This is an amazing achievement of intelligence linked to operations that lead to the result,” Amos Gilad, a former senior defence official, said on Channel 12. “Regarding the performance, we can say it was impressive whoever carried it out.”
A couple of junior ministers – not part of the inner circle of security officials making strategic decisions – took to social media to celebrate the operation, which Israel has not officially claimed.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli posted on X a video of Haniyeh attending an event in which the crowd chanted “Death to Israel”. Chikli wrote: “Careful what you wish for.”
Images of people distributing sweets were shared on social media, and in one Jerusalem supermarket a table of biscuits were laid out for shoppers to take under a sign reading “The people of Israel live.”
How deluded. I'm sure the hostage families are not in a jovial mood. How are ceasefire negotiations to continue now?
Haniyeh ‘gave up his life for religion and country’: Hamas official
Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya says the group’s political leader “gave up his life for his religion and country”.
“He died in exceptional circumstances, and he will be missed by his people and the nation,” al-Hayya told Al Jazeera. He said Haniyeh was meeting delegations and was an official visitor and guest of Iran at the time of his killing.
“He was not in a secret hiding place or far from the limelight, and his assassination was not a military success or an intelligence achievement. The Qassam Brigades will not let Haniyeh’s assassination go without retribution,” he said, referring to Hamas’s armed wing.
