The burial of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, assassinated in Iran earlier this week, has taken place in Qatar as commemorations were held in countries including Turkey, Lebanon, Yemen, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Thousands of mourners gathered on Friday at Doha’s Imam Muhammad ibn Abdul al-Wahhab Mosque to join ritual prayers before the Palestinian group’s political chief was buried in Lusail, north of the Qatari capital.
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Representatives of other Palestinian factions and members of the public attended the events in the city, where Haniyeh had lived along with members of Hamas’s political office. His family was at the funeral amid tight security measures at Qatar’s national mosque.
The atmosphere was one of grief and solidarity for Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel has not offered any comment on the assassination but after the October 7 incursion into southern Israel, which was led by Hamas and during which 1,139 people were killed, Israeli officials promised to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders as part of a stated aim to crush the group.
The killing of Haniyeh on Wednesday, which Hamas, Iran and others have blamed on Israel, came hours after Israeli forces struck a southern suburb of Beirut, killing Fuad Shukr, the military commander of the Iran-aligned Lebanese group Hezbollah. Israel has taken responsibility for this attack.
In Gaza, Hamas called for a “day of furious rage” to protest against the assassination and Israel’s deadliest war on Gaza which since October 7 has killed almost 40,000 people.
Turkey and Pakistan have announced a day of mourning in honour of the Hamas leader.
Thousands gathered at the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul to pay their respects to Haniyeh during the Friday prayer. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was expected to address the event but his visit was cancelled at the last minute.
The Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv lowered its flag to half-staff, drawing the ire of Israeli officials. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded on X to the move, saying, “Representatives of the Turkish Embassy in Israel are invited to take down the flag completely and return home.”
