In the early hours of Wednesday, July 31, 2024, Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas' political bureau and the head of Hamas' negotiating team with Israel, who was in Iran for the inauguration ceremony of President Pezeshkian, was killed along with one of his guards in his residence in Tehran by a missile attack. So far, the finger of blame has been pointed towards Israel. Besides the Islamic Republic, Hamas, and various Palestinian groups, many governments including those of Russia, China, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Qatar, Malaysia, Jordan, Afghanistan, Yemen, and others have condemned this assassination, calling it a dangerous move towards escalating tensions and war in the Middle East.

As usual, in similar cases of assassinating its opponents, Israel has refrained from making any official comments regarding its role in this assassination. Netanyahu has prohibited his cabinet members from commenting on this assassination, and Israeli military officials have stated that they "will not respond to media reports about the killing of the head of Hamas' political bureau." U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has said that he "has nothing to say about this incident" and claimed that "the United States is trying to reduce increasing regional tensions". Blinken claims that the U.S. government was "unaware" of this plan. The Pentagon chief has stated that "in case of any attack on Israel, they will defend this country". European governments and allies of the U.S. and Israel have all remained silent.

The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, a day after President Pezeshkian's inauguration ceremony, following Netanyahu's visit to the U.S., his presence in Congress, and his meetings with senior U.S. officials, Biden, and Trump, and a few hours after the Israeli government's bombing in Beirut aimed at assassinating a Hezbollah commander, was undoubtedly a coordinated, purposeful, and well-planned action relying on high-level of intelligence, security, and military capabilities. The precision of the missile operation targeting Haniyeh's residence and the complexity of obtaining information about his residence in Tehran make the cooperation between American and Israeli intelligence agencies highly probable.

Without a doubt, the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh is a calculated effort by the Israeli government, which is in a political and military deadlock, with clear objectives. One of these objectives is to make a ceasefire in Gaza Strip and any agreement to end the killing of innocent Palestinian people impossible, and to make any political solution to the Palestinian issue and the possibility of a safe and free life for them in the West Bank and Gaza Strip improbable. Another objective is to escalate the war in the Middle East by provoking Iran and forcing the Islamic Republic into a direct war with the Israeli government, and drawing the U.S. and NATO into this war as a way out of the Israeli government's political and military deadlock, global isolation, and the internal political-social crisis of the ultra-right and fascist Israeli government.

The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, as Hamas' political leader and negotiating partner with Israel, is a dangerous move to ignite the entire region and is condemned. The leaders of the Islamic Republic have officially announced that Israel's action will not go unanswered. Regardless of any retaliatory action by the Islamic Republic, Hezbollah, or Hamas, with this terrorist operation, the Israeli government has entered the region into a sensitive and dangerous phase, extending the shadow of war, insecurity, and terrorism over the lives of millions of people in the region. The price of this terrorism will be paid by people in Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Syria through increased war, destruction, and intensified killings. The people of Israel, who want an end to this genocide and a peaceful life with the Palestinian people, will also pay the price. In Iran, the clear terrorism affects the people who are struggling with the Islamic Republic for freedom, equality, welfare, and security, and who are fighting against any form of terrorism, whether Islamic or Zionist, for a safe life.

The U.S. government, with its false and hypocritical claims of trying to "end the war in Gaza and reduce tensions in the region", is the main factor not only in the continued killing and massacre of the Palestinian people but also in the spread of militarism, terrorism, and dangerous tensions in the region. Today, the U.S. government, by providing military, arms, security, intelligence, financial, and political support to the fascist Israeli government, by shielding Israel from the consequences of its fascist and criminal policies, and by gaining the support of European governments for Israel, is the main factor in Israel's arrogance and bullying in the region and its genocide and crimes in Palestine.

Undoubtedly, curbing Israel's mass killing and terror machine, deterring the U.S. from militarism, and reducing the risk of war, destruction, and military conflicts in the region, which the deprived people will fall victim to, are tasks of a movement that stands against this savagery worldwide in support of the Palestinian people and for real peace. This movement today, more than ever, needs the powerful presence of the global working class as a united class to stand up against Israel's mass killing and terror and genocide machine!

Worker-communist Party of Iran - Hekmatist (Official Line)

July 31, 2024