International community on high alert as Haniyeh killing threatens Mideast peace

TDT| Manama

The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com   

With the sudden escalation of tensions in the Mideast, following Israel’s killing of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh while in Iran, world leaders yesterday called for cooler heads to prevail and avoid actions that would escalate the conflict.

The Israeli attack occurred at 2am local time while the Hamas leader was in Iran to attend the swearing-in of Iran’s new President.

According to AFP reports citing Iranian media, the Israeli strike targeted special residences for war veterans in north Tehran where Haniyeh was staying.

An “official and public” funeral ceremony for Haniyeh will be held in Tehran today before his body is flown to Qatar, his base in recent years, for burial tomorrow, Hamas said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the strike on Tehran, and another one on Tuesday in Beirut that killed a top Hezbollah commander, represented a “dangerous escalation”.

All efforts, he said, should be “leading to a ceasefire” in Gaza, and the release of hostages taken there from Israel. The European Union called for “maximum restraint” in the aftermath of Haniyeh’s assassination.

“We call on all parties to exert maximum restraint and avoid any further escalation,” said Peter Stano, the European Commission’s spokesperson for foreign affairs.

“No country and no nation stand to gain from a further escalation in the Middle East,” the spokesperson stated.

Calling for restraint in the Mideast, the German government said, “It is essential to avoid further escalation and a regional conflagration.” German foreign ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer said, “We call on all actors to exercise maximum restraint, the logic of tit-for-tat reprisals is the wrong path.”

Russia strongly condemned Haniyeh’s killing and said it could “significantly destabilize” the region. “We believe that such actions are directed against attempts to restore peace in the region and could significant destabilise an already tense situation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated.

“It is a completely unacceptable political assassination, and this will lead to a further escalation of tensions,” Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency. China’s foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said, “We are highly concerned about the incident and firmly oppose and condemn the assassination.”

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned what he called the “perfidious assassination” of his “brother” Haniyeh.