(Image source from: REUTERS)

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike in the Iranian capital on Wednesday, with Iran and the militant group blaming Israel, even as the United States and other countries sought to prevent a wider conflict in the region from breaking out Assassination attempt that risked escalating the conflict. The Iranian war leader has promised revenge against Israel. There was no immediate comment from Israel, which has vowed to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders, on the Hamas attack in southern Israel in which Palestinian militants killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages. This attack came just hours after Haniyeh attended the inauguration ceremony of Iran's new president in Tehran and a few hours after Israel attacked one of the top commanders of the Iran-aligned Hezbollah in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. The dramatic assassination of Hamas's political leader was a threat that will reverberate throughout the region's tangled conflicts. Most importantly, if Iran retaliates, an attack in Tehran could lead to direct conflict between Iran and Israel. Ali Khamenei, the leader of Iran, said on his official website: "We consider it our duty to avenge him." He said that Israel had "prepared a severe punishment for itself" by killing a dear guest of our home killed.

Regional rivals Israel and Iran were threatened with war earlier this year after Israel attacked the Iranian embassy in Damascus in April. Iran retaliated and Israel engaged in an unprecedented exchange of blows on mutual soil, but international efforts stopped the vicious cycle before it spiraled out of control. Haniyeh's killing could also force Hamas to withdraw from negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the 10-month Gaza conflict, in which U.S. mediators say progress has been made. International diplomats said already high tensions between Israel and Hezbollah could escalate after a weekend rocket attack in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. On Tuesday evening, Israel said it had carried out an unusual attack on the Lebanese capital, killing a senior Hezbollah commander believed to be behind the rocket attack. Hezbollah, which has denied involvement in the Golan attack, said on Wednesday it was searching for Fouad Shakur's body under the rubble of a building on the outskirts of Beirut where two women and two children were killed, the Lebanese newspaper Health reported.

There was no immediate response from the White House to Haniyeh's killing. Asked by reporters in Manila about the attack in Tehran, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he had "no further information to provide." However, he expressed hope for a diplomatic solution to the Israel-Lebanon border. “I think war is inevitable,” he said. I think there is always room and opportunity for diplomacy and I hope that the parties will look for these opportunities. A Western diplomat working to prevent an escalation of tensions between Israel and Hezbollah said the twin strikes in Beirut and Tehran had "virtually extinguished" any hope of a ceasefire in Gaza and could plunge the Middle East into a "catastrophic crisis." regional war,” said Gini. This diplomat spoke about the delicate situation on the condition that his name not be revealed. An Israeli army spokesman declined to comment. Israel does not often comment on assassinations or attacks by its secret service Mossad on other countries. Iranian media circulated images of Haniyeh and Iranian President Masoud Mezkiyan embracing after the Mezikians' swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday. Hamas said in a statement that hours later an attack was carried out on Haniyeh's residence in Tehran and he was killed. He also quoted Haniyeh's earlier words, saying that the cause of Palestine "has a price" and "we are ready for that cost, including martyrdom for Palestine, for God Almighty, and glory." this country.

The doctor promised that his country would defend its territory and make the invaders repent of their heinous deeds. Iran's influential parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy was scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on the attack on Wednesday. Hamas's military branch said in a statement that Haniya's killing would take the war to a new dimension and have a major impact on the entire region. Israel has said it “made a miscalculation in expanding the circle of its aggression.” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told The Associated Press that Haniyeh's loss would have no impact on the group, saying the group had become stronger after past crises and killings of leaders. Haniyeh left the Gaza Strip in 2019 and lived in exile in Qatar. The most senior Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip is Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7 attack. In the West Bank, internationally backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Haniya's killing as a "disgusting act and a dangerous development." Political factions in the occupied territories called for a strike to protest the killings. In April, Haniyeh's three sons and four grandchildren were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iran-backed militia coalition, announced that four Kataib Hezbollah militants were killed in an airstrike on a base southwest of Baghdad on Tuesday evening. The group accused the United States of being behind the attack. Kataib Hezbollah, along with several other militias, has carried out attacks on American military bases in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for the US government's support of Israel in the Gaza war. U.S. officials had no immediate comment.