Israel killed the prospects of peace by assassinating Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said, as he criticized U.S. support for Israel’s crimes.
“They should not forget that they destroyed peace by assassinating him,” Fidan told a live broadcast on Wednesday.
Noting that unwavering U.S. support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including his speech at the Congress, Fidan said he has taken the U.S. “hostage.”
“I think Netanyahu is very well aware of the fact that he has taken the U.S. hostage. The U.S. has no other choice but to follow his footsteps if Israel goes into war with Lebanon,” Fidan said.
Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, where he attended the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president.
Iranian state media said Haniyeh, who was based in Qatar and had led the Palestinian resistance group's political operations for years, was hit "by an object from the air" at 2 a.m. (10:30 p.m. GMT Tuesday).
Hamas said it was an Israeli airstrike, but Israel has made no immediate announcement about the assassination, while many countries have warned that it will have a major impact on efforts to bring a cease-fire in the Gaza war.
Haniyeh was a frequent visitor to Türkiye, which has been a vocal critic of Israel’s massacres in Palestine since Oct. 7, 2023, in response to an offensive by Hamas and stands among a few countries recognizing his group as a resistance movement.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who met Haniyeh in Istanbul as recently as April, separately condemned the assassination, calling it “perfidious” and sending his condolences to Palestine and Haniyeh’s family.
