Mourners bury Hamas chief Haniyeh in Qatar as escalation looms over Middle East

Thousands of mourners converged around the flag-draped coffin of Hamas’ slain political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in the emirate of Qatar on Friday as the fallout surged from his death in an alleged Israeli attack.

The funeral ceremony in Doha, Qatar’s capital, attended by members of Gaza’s militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups as well as Qatari and Iranian officials, was subdued.

But across the Muslim world — from Jordan and Morocco to Yemen and Somalia — angry crowds waving Palestinian flags rushed out of mosques after midday prayers on Friday, chanting for revenge.

“Let Friday be a day of rage to denounce the assassination,” said Izzat al-Risheq, a senior Hamas official.

Mr Haniyeh had lived in Qatar, along with other senior members of Hamas’s political leadership.

Following the back-to-back assassinations of Mr Haniyeh in Tehran early on Wednesday and top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut the evening before, international diplomats have scrambled to head off a full-fledged regional war.

Iran and its proxies vowed to retaliate. Major airlines cancelled flights to Tel Aviv, Israel, and Beirut, Lebanon.

Cyprus said on Friday it was preparing for possible mass evacuations of foreign citizens via the island nation, in case of a wider war.

France beefed up security for Jewish communities nationwide. Poland warned its citizens against travelling to the Middle East.

Pakistan and Turkey lowered their flags to half-staff, prompting Israel to summon Turkey’s deputy ambassador for a “stern reprimand”.

Turkey’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Oncu Keceli, shot back that Israel “cannot achieve peace by killing the negotiators” — a reference to Mr Haniyeh’s role in ceasefire talks — while hundreds of Turks gathered at the historic Hagia Sophia to pay tribute to the slain Hamas leader as his funeral service got underway in Doha.

“We are sure that his blood will bring out victory, dignity and liberation,” senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, seen as a possible successor to Mr Haniyeh, said from the Doha mosque where Mr Haniyeh’s coffin was displayed beside that of his bodyguard who was also killed in the attack in Tehran.

Israel has not confirmed or denied its role in the targeted killing of Mr Haniyeh.

Hamas said Mr Haniyeh was killed in a strike on a guesthouse in Tehran where he was staying after the swearing-in ceremony of the new Iranian president.

Khaled Kaddoumi, Hamas’ representative in Iran, was staying on a lower floor. Mr Kaddoumi said he woke up shortly before 2am when his room was shaken and he saw a flash out the window.

At first, Mr Kaddoumi said he thought it was thunder and lightning or an earthquake. By the time he got out of his room, smoke was everywhere and his colleagues told him Mr Haniyeh was killed.

Mr Kaddoumi saw Mr Haniyeh face down, on the floor.

He spotted the body of Mr Haniyeh’s bodyguard, holding a bloody Quran. No one else was injured, he said.

There was so much dust and smoke in the room, that Mr Kaddoumi had to wear a mask. The roof and the walls overlooking the exterior were destroyed, he said.

Mr Kaddoumi said it looked like the room was hit by a missile. A photo that he said was of the building after the attack appeared to show less structural damage than would typically be seen from a large airstrike.

The damage appeared more consistent with a smaller explosive, potentially delivered by a drone or planted at the site.

Mr Kaddoumi said Mr Haniyeh had stayed in the same guesthouse in May when he attended the funeral of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a plane crash.

Mr Haniyeh’s killing was another blow to the Hamas leadership.