The movement that rules the Gaza Strip says its senior officials have begun extensive consultations “to choose a new chief”.
Hamas says it has begun consultations to select a new leader of the Palestinian group following the killing of its political chief Ismail Haniyeh.
“Following the martyrdom of our leader, the movement’s leaders have begun a broad consultation process within its hierarchy and consultative institutions to choose a new head,” Hamas said in a statement published on its social media accounts on Sunday.
The statement said Haniyeh’s killing “will make Hamas and the Palestinian resistance even stronger and more determined to continue their path and approach”.
The group said the results of the consultation would be announced once it is completed.
Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran early on Wednesday morning. Iranian officials have blamed Israel for the attack. His bodyguard was also killed.
Iran and groups allied to it in the Middle East have vowed to avenge Haniyeh’s killing. Israel, which has been accused by Hamas, Iran and others of carrying out the attack, has not commented directly on the killing.
Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Following the funeral in Tehran, where prayers were led by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Thursday, Haniyeh’s remains were taken to Doha for burial.
The Hamas leader has lived in the Qatari capital, where talks have been taking place with Israel and other stakeholders, including Egypt and the United States, for a possible ceasefire in Gaza since the war began in October.
Regional growth expected
As Iran and its allies prepare their response to Haniyeh’s killing, tensions are rising in the Middle East with fears of a regional war.
The United States, Israel’s main ally, has said it will send more warships and fighter jets to the region, while several Western governments, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have called on their citizens to immediately leave Lebanon, where Hamas’s ally Hezbollah is based.
Haniyeh’s killing in Tehran came just hours after Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah’s military chief in Beirut, sparking promises of revenge from Iran and the “axis of resistance,” a group of Middle Eastern armed groups backed by Iran.
Iran said on Saturday it expected Hezbollah to attack deep inside Israel and no longer be confined to military targets.
When US President Joe Biden was asked by reporters on Saturday if he thought Iran would back down after the Tehran attack, he said: “I hope so. I don’t know.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said on Sunday that about 30 rockets were fired from southern Lebanon at Israel, most of which were shot down and there were no reports of casualties.
According to Lebanese media, the volley of rockets followed Israeli air strikes overnight targeting several areas in southern Lebanon.
Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been exchanging gunfire since the Gaza war began on October 7. It has so far killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians and displaced almost the entire population of the besieged territory amid widespread starvation and health emergencies.
