Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says Israel will receive \u2018harsh punishment in due time and place\u2019 for assassination of Hamas chief
\nTehran
\nHamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed earlier this week by a \u201cshort-range projectile\u201d launched from outside his residence in Tehran, Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said.
\nIn a statement issued on Saturday, the IRGC said that based on investigations conducted so far, the attack against Haniyeh \u201cwas carried out by firing a short-range projectile carrying about 7kg [15.4lb] of explosive materials and launched from outside the guests residency\u201d.
\nIt added that Israel will receive \u201ca harsh punishment in due time and place\u201d for Haniyeh\u2019s assassination, which, it said, was \u201csupported by the criminal government\u201d of the United States.
\nIsrael has neither confirmed nor denied a role, while the US has said it \u201cwas not aware of or involved in\u201d Haniyeh\u2019s killing that threatens to plunge the Middle East into further conflict amid Israel\u2019s relentless war on the Gaza Strip.
\nThe Palestinian leader and his bodyguard were killed in an Iranian government guest house in Tehran in the early hours of Wednesday.
\nHaniyeh had gone to the Iranian capital to attend the inauguration of Iran\u2019s newly elected Masoud Pezeshkian.
\nAccording to security analyst H. A. Hellyer, the narrative Iran will adopt to describe the method of assassination of Ismail Haniyeh will shape its escalation against Israel.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not clear yet how he was assassinated and any conclusion on that regard will have serious ramifications for what sort of escalation will come next and what narrative is gonna be produced,\u201d Hellyer tells Al Jazeera, noting that there are two competing narratives. Citing unnamed officials, including Middle Eastern and Iranian sources, a number of Western outlets had previously reported that Haniyeh was killed by a bomb planted months ago in his accommodation in Tehran.
\n\u201cThere is a difference between these two types of scenarios,\u201d Hellyer says, adding that a missile would suggest that \u201ca security breach may have taken place in terms of knowing exactly where to hit, but it\u2019s a different security breach than if a bomb was smuggled inside Iran.\u201d
\nOn Friday, thousands of people attended Haniyeh\u2019s funeral prayer at a mosque in Qatar\u2019s capital, Doha, where the Hamas chief had lived along with members of the group\u2019s political office.
\nHis assassination came hours after top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli air attack on the southern suburbs of Lebanon\u2019s capital, Beirut. According to Lebanon\u2019s health ministry, five civilians \u2013 three women and two children \u2013 also died in the attack.
\nSince the war in Gaza began, the Tehran-backed group has been exchanging near-daily fire with Israeli forces, saying it is targeting military positions over the border.
\nIran said on Saturday it expects Hezbollah to hit deeper inside Israel and no longer be confined to military targets after Israel killed the Hezbollah military commander.
\nIsrael said Shukr was responsible for rocket fire that killed 12 youths in the annexed Golan Heights, and had directed Hezbollah\u2019s attacks on Israel.
\nIsrael\u2019s war on Gaza has resulted in nearly 40,000 deaths and displaced almost the entire population of 2.3 million, leading to what UN experts are calling a famine in the enclave. The war started in response to a Hamas-led attack on Israeli communities and military outposts on October 7, in which 1,139 people were killed and about 250 were taken captive.
\nOver the last few months, Hamas and Israel have been locked in ceasefire talks aimed at ending the killing in Gaza and releasing Israeli captives in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says Israel will receive \u2018harsh punishment in due time and place\u2019 for assassination of Hamas chief Tehran Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed earlier this week by a \u201cshort-range projectile\u201d launched from outside his residence in Tehran, Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said. In a statement issued […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422739,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-422729","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n