The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On July 31, 2024, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced the death of Hamas leader and head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards, in Tehran.[1] Later on the same day Hamas issued an official statement in which it confirmed Haniyeh's death and claimed that he was killed in "a Zionist aerial attack."[2] Hamas, Hizbullah, and Yemen's Iran-backed Ansar Allah movement (the Houthis) described the assassination as a serious escalation that will have weighty implications for the entire region. The three organizations asserted that the incident will increase their determination to follow the path of jihad against the "Zionist-American enemy." The IRGC also threatened "a harsh and painful response from the axis of resistance," led by Iran.[3]
The following is a review of the statements issued by Hamas, Hizbullah, and the Houthis on July 31, 2024:
Hamas issued an official statement on July 31 in which it announced the death of "the martyr of Jerusalem, Palestine, and Al-Aqsa Flood," Ismail Haniyeh aka Abu Al-'Abd, in "a cowardly, treacherous" assassination "by the Zionist enemy," in Tehran. The movement described the assassination as "an act of terrorism" that constituted "a severe and extensive escalation of the [enemy's] cycle of aggression and crime against our people and our Islamic nation." Hamas asserted that "the Zionist enemy and its supporters bear responsibility for this crime and its serious consequences."[4]
Meanwhile, the Hamas 'Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades military wing described the assassination as "an irregular and grave incident that gives the campaign new dimensions and that will have great consequences for the entire region." The organization added that Israel made a mistake when it expanded the scope of "aggression" to include the assassination of senior officials of the resistance, in various arenas, while violating the sovereignty of countries in the region. He declared that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is leading "the occupation entity" to the edge of an abyss and "is speeding up its collapse and retreat from the land of Palestine once and for all." He also stated that "the ongoing crimes of the enemy, in all the arenas, are sounding a warning bell for all the countries and peoples in the region, and they should drive everyone to support and assist the resistance in Palestine, for it is the first line of defense of the entire Islamic nation."[5]
Hizbullah also issued an official statement in which it expressed its condolences to Hamas, to all the factions of the Palestinian resistance, and to all the Arab peoples and mujahideen members of the resistance. The organization described Haniyeh as "one of the greatest resistance leaders of our generation who have bravely opposed the American and Israeli occupation hegemonic project." He further asserted that Haniyeh's death "would only increase the determination and perseverance of the mujahideen members of the resistance, in all the arenas of resistance, to continue on the path of jihad."[6]
The Houthi political bureau released a statement in which it described the assassination as a serious escalation and "gross violation of all the international laws, conventions, and agreements." The statement added that the assassination was "a Jewish terrorist crime that constitutes a difficult loss for the Islamic nation at a critical time in the conflict with the enemy." The bureau highlighted the Houthi support for Hamas and all the factions of the resistance against "the wild Zionist behavior supported by the U.S." It further stated that the continuation of "the genocide" and the assassinations of senior officials by Israel indicates its powerlessness and its total failure in the war.[7]
Houthi Supreme Political Council Chairman Mahdi Al-Mashat declared a three-day mourning period and decreed that flags be lowered to half-mast. He said that Haniyeh's death is a great loss to the Palestinian people and the entire Islamic nation and declared that Yemen "will stand with all its strength alongside the mujahideen in the Hamas movement and the entire axis of resistance." He added that, "The Zionist and American enemy must bear responsibility for the widening of the arena of the war and its wave of assassinations against the senior members of the resistance."[8]
