Funeral for slain Hamas leader Haniyeh to be held in Qatar

2/8/2024 17:16

        Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh will be buried in Qatar on Friday following his assassination in the Iranian capital Tehran, one in a series of killings of senior figures in the Palestinian militant group as the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza rages.
        
        Haniyeh will be interred in a cemetery after funeral prayers in the city of Lusail, north of Qatar's capital Doha.
        
        Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Rishq called on people to pray for his soul in all mosques around the world.
        
        "Let today, Friday, be a day of overwhelming anger denouncing the assassination crime and rejecting the genocide in the Gaza Strip," he said in a statement.
        Haniyeh was killed by a missile that hit him directly in a state guesthouse in Tehran where he was staying, senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya told a news conference in the Iranian capital, quoting witnesses who were with him.
        
        Iran and Hamas have both accused Israel of carrying out the killing and have pledged to retaliate against their foe. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the death nor denied it.