And this is why we need functional international law and a functional UN/UNSC. Without it escalation will only continue.
Hezbollah leader vows ‘definite’ response to Shukr killing
Hassan Nasrallah says Hezbollah will respond to Israel’s killing of the group’s most senior military commander in a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs earlier this week.
“The resistance’s response to the assassination of commander Fuad Shukr is settled and there is no discussion about it,” Nasrallah said, speaking at the funeral of the slain commander. The leader of the Iran-backed group said that unnamed countries had asked Hezbollah not to retaliate, but he said the group was exploring a “real, studied” response.
Here are a few other main takeaways from what Nasrallah said:
- The killing of Shukr was not just an assassination of a military target, but an aggression against civilians.
- Nasrallah denied the group’s responsibility for the attack that killed 12 young Druze in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights last week.
- The strike in Beirut was not to revenge the killing of the Druze civilians, but rather for Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu to claim a military success amid growing criticism.
- Whoever wants to see things cool down in the region must work to stop the war in Gaza.
- The conflict had entered new phase of regional war on multiple fronts.
- Ordinary operations against Israel – the near-daily drone and rocket strikes that have taken place since shortly after October 7 – would resume on Friday.
Thousands mourn Hamas leader Haniyeh in Iran amid calls for revenge
Thousands have poured into the streets of Tehran to join the funeral procession of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as Iran weighs its options after promising to avenge his assassination.
The bodies of Haniyeh and his bodyguard, who was killed alongside him in a strike blamed on Israel, were marched amid chants in the capital. Flags of Palestine, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Hamas were seen as organisers handed out posters of Haniyeh.
Banners honoured the Palestinian leader and the late Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated by a United States strike in 2020, among others.
“Avenging the blood of the guest is with the host, the world is waiting,” read the headline of the ultraconservative Keyhan newspaper, whose editor-in-chief is appointed by Iran’s supreme leader.
“We must give a strong response to Israel, anything less would make many people unhappy,” 46-year-old Hamid Hajian, who attended the funeral procession, told Al Jazeera.
Hamid Hajian, who took part in the funeral procession, is seen holding up an image of Ismail Haniyeh, along with other top assassinated Palestinian, Iranian and Iraqi figures in Tehran
Pakistan declares day of mourning for Haniyeh
Pakistan will hold a day of mourning on Friday for slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had earlier called the assassination a “barbaric act” that violated international law.
In a news release on Wednesday, the country’s foreign ministry denounced what it called “Israeli adventurism” that undermines efforts to secure a ceasefire. Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the city of Rawalpindi in support of Haniyeh that evening.
Last month, an adviser to Prime Minister Sharif called Netanyahu a “terrorist and a perpetrator of war crimes”.
Turkey to hold day of mourning for Haniyeh
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared Friday a day of mourning for slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
“A national day of mourning will be declared tomorrow in solidarity with the Palestinian cause and in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters,” Erdogan said in a social media post today.
Reuters news agency reported that Erdogan will also attend Haniyeh’s funeral, which will be taking place in Qatar.
Earlier today, Pakistan also declared Friday as a day of mourning for Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran.
