ENTRE News – Israel summoned Türkiye’s deputy ambassador in protest after its embassy in Tel Aviv lowered its flag to half-mast. The lowering of the flag was a form of condolence for the death of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
“The State of Israel will not tolerate expressions of condolence for a murderer like Ismail Haniyeh,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
Via social media X, Katz said Haniyeh had been the leader of Hamas during the October 7 attack on Israel that killed around 1,200 citizens. He also brought up Hamas holding more than 250 citizens in Israel hostage including foreigners, triggering Tel Aviv to launch brutal aggression against the Palestinian Gaza Strip to this day.
Haniyeh was killed in Tehran while attending the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel is still silent about accusations of being the mastermind behind the attack that killed Haniyeh. However, Hamas and a number of countries such as Iran and Türkiye believe that Haniyeh’s murder was carried out by Israel.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan even declared Friday 2 August a day of national mourning for Haniyeh. Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli criticized Katz’s statement and said Israel could not threaten diplomats to achieve peace.
“You cannot achieve peace by killing negotiators, threatening diplomats,” Keceli said, referring to Haniyeh’s killing.
Until now, the cause of Haniyeh’s death is still unclear. Haniyeh is said to have died from a bomb that had been smuggled into his place of stay in Tehran, Iran, several months ago. These findings were obtained based on information from seven Middle Eastern officials and one United States official. The New York Times (NYT) conducted an investigation into Haniyeh’s death in the early hours of Wednesday (31/8) Tehran time.
The NYT’s latest details refute Iran’s claim that Haniyeh was killed by a projectile attack such as a missile. Based on the results of the NYT investigation, the bomb was secretly smuggled into Haniyeh’s place of residence about two months ago.
Wisma Haniyeh is operated and guarded by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The guesthouse is part of a large complex known as Neshat, located in northern Tehran. It is not clear how the bomb could be hidden in the guesthouse which should be closely guarded. Officials believe that the Zionist State has been preparing to smuggle bombs to Haniyeh’s residence for a long time and has extensively monitored the location of Haniyeh’s residence in Iran.