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Haniyeh coffin arrives in Doha, Nasrallah vows to avenge killing

Haniyeh coffin arrives in Qatar for burial, Hezbollah's Nasrallah vows to avenge killing
MENA
17 min read
Ismail Haniyeh's coffin has arrived in Qatar for burial, after funeral services were held for him in Tehran, Iran, where he was killed.

The coffin of Hamas's political chief Ismail Haniyeh, killed in a strike in Tehran blamed on Israel, arrived Thursday in Doha after a public funeral in Iran, Qatar-based network Al Jazeera reported.

Haniyeh, who had resided in exile in the Gulf state with other members of the Palestinian group's political office, is to be buried in Qatar on Friday following prayers at the Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque, Doha's largest mosque.

Haniyeh's funeral procession was held in Tehran, with prayers led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Meanwhile, Lebanese Hezbollah's head Hassan Nasrallah vowed on Thursday to respond to Israel's killing of Haniyeh, saying its decades-old foe had "crossed red lines."

Lebanese media is also reporting that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is set to speak at 5pm to commemorate slain commander Fuad Shukr. His funeral is also set to take place on Thursday.

 

Speaking in a televised address to mark the funeral of the slain commander, Nasrallah said the conflict had entered "a new phase unlike the previous one" and that Israel had crossed red lines with its attack on the group's stronghold.

Nasrallah said unnamed countries had asked his group to retaliate in an "acceptable" way - or not at all. But he said it would be "impossible" for the group not to respond.

"There is no discussion on this point. The only things lying between us and you are the days, the nights and the battlefield," Nasrallah added in a threat to Israel.

He said the group had ratcheted down its operations over the last two days out of respect for the victims of the strike but would "go back to work normally starting tomorrow morning," although the retaliation for Shukr's killing would come later.