‘Entire Resistance Axis’ will respond to Haniyeh assassination: IRGC

The Cradle, July 31, 2024 — 

The assassination of the top Hamas chief came hours after a brutal Israeli strike on Beirut, which has raised concerns that a regional flare-up is nearing

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) condemned Israel’s assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh on 31 July, vowing that the Resistance Axis as a whole will respond to the attack. 

“This crime demonstrated that the criminal, murderous, and terrorist Zionist gang, disregarding international rules and regulations, spares no criminal action to cover up its humiliating defeats in the nine-month war in Gaza, which has resulted in the massacre of tens of thousands of Palestinian women, men, and children,” the IRGC said on Wednesday, hours after Haniyeh’s assassination in Tehran. 

“Undoubtedly, this crime by the Zionist regime will be met with a severe and painful response from the powerful and grand Resistance Axis, especially the Islamic Republic of Iran … the blessings of the Martyr of Jerusalem Dr Ismail Haniyeh’s efforts in defending the cause and rights of the Palestinian nation will help them,” it added. 

The IRGC announced on Wednesday morning that Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed when they were targeted in their guesthouse. “The attack is under investigation and the results will be announced later in the day,” it said. 

Tehran has declared three days of national mourning for Haniyeh’s assassination. 

Al Mayadeen reported, citing an Iranian source, that the Israeli attack was a cross-border guided missile strike rather than an airstrike.

Hebrew news outlet Channel 12 said that the strike was launched from within Iran. 

The attack came hours after an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, which marked a serious escalation. 

Three civilians, a woman and two children, were killed in the attack, and over 70 were injured. The target was Fuad Shukr, top military advisor to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the director of the entirety of the resistance group’s military operations. 

Hezbollah said on Wednesday morning that search operations are still ongoing. Shukr’s fate remains unknown. 

The killing of Haniyeh and the escalatory strike on Lebanon’s capital have raised concerns that a regional flare-up is imminent. A Hezbollah official had told Al Jazeera hours before the Israeli attack that the Lebanese resistance was fully prepared to respond to any Israeli escalation.

Bomb shelters in Tel Aviv and in the Galilee have begun opening since Tuesday evening. 

“We don’t want war, but we are preparing for all possibilities,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on 31 July. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to convene the security cabinet on Wednesday, the premier’s office said.