Several countries hold funeral services for Hamas' Ismail Haniyeh

By Anadolu Staff

ISTANBUL (AA) — Several countries held funeral processions for Ismail Haniyeh, head of Palestinian group Hamas' political bureau, who was assassinated Wednesday in Iran's capital Tehran.

Haniyeh's body was transferred to Qatar's capital Doha for his funeral following the Friday prayer. He will be buried in a cemetery in the Gulf nation's city of Lusail.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had led prayers at a memorial event for Haniyeh on Thursday in Tehran.

In-absentia funeral prayers were also held in various parts of Türkiye, where several marches have been held in protest of Haniyeh's assassination.

Prayers in-absentia were also held in the Gaza Strip and occupied East Jerusalem, as well as in various cities in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and in Lebanon. Separately, several protest marches were held in cities across Jordan in protest of Haniyeh's killing.

The Pakistani Parliament also held a funeral prayer in-absentia.

Haniyeh was assassinated on Wednesday in the Iranian capital, Tehran. While Hamas and Iran blamed Israel for the killing, Tel Aviv has not confirmed or denied its responsibility.

The assassination came a day after Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburb.

Fears have grown about a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah amid an exchange of cross-border attacks between the two sides.

The escalation came against the backdrop of a deadly Israeli onslaught on Gaza which has killed nearly 39,500 people since last October following an attack by Hamas.