The Israeli government has not said much about the assassination of the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyawith the government spokesman refusing to comment on the development. “We do not comment on this specific incident”spokesman David Menser said at a news conference.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry invokes UN resolution
Note that Israel’s Foreign Minister said today that an “all-out war” with Iran-backed Hezbollah can be avoided through immediate implementation of a UN resolution which prohibits armed groups in southern Lebanon from being near the border with Israel.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he had sent a letter to dozens of his counterparts calling for the implementation of UN Resolution 1701, which was adopted in 2006 at the end of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The resolution states that no armed organizations should be present between the Litani River in Lebanon and the border. The river is several kilometers from the border. “Israel is not interested in an all-out war, but the only way to avoid it is the immediate implementation of Resolution 1701,” Katz says in his letter.
LIVE: Hamas Leader Ismail Haniya Killed – What It Means for Developments in Gaza and the Middle East
The reaction of the Israelis
A major success in the war against Hamas was seen by Israelis with the news of Haniya’s death. “Ismail Haniya exterminated in Tehran,” reads an identical banner in the near-constant news coverage of four major television networks today.
Commentators and experts have been discussing the skills required to carry out such an assassination and speculating about the possible impact on the war in Gaza and the chances of reaching a hostage exchange deal with Palestinian prisoners.
In Israel there was much contentmenta day after the Israeli military said it had killed a top leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Beirut in a deadly retaliatory strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
“It is an incredible success of the intelligence agency linked to the business that led to the outcome,” said Mr. Amos Gilland, former high-ranking official in the defense sector, on Channel 12. “In terms of execution, we can say that it was impressive, whoever executed it.”
The Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not comment on Haniya’s murder, nor did the defense minister. The government press office posted a photo of Haniya on Facebook with the word “exterminated” on her forehead.
Deputy ministers who are not part of the inner circle of security officials who make strategic decisions welcomed the operation on social media, for which Israel has not officially claimed responsibility.
O Minister of Diaspora, Amihai Chikli posted on X video showing Haniya attending an event where the crowd chants “Death to Israel.” Chikli wrote: “Be careful what you wish for.”
The killing came as negotiations falter over a proposed ceasefire in Gaza that includes the release of Israeli hostages held after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that triggered the war.
Egypt and Qatar, who are mediating the negotiations, said the killing could complicate efforts to reach a ceasefire. Iran and Hamas have threatened to retaliate, but many welcomed the blow to arch-enemy Israel as a potential boost to the chances of ending the war.
Netanyahu had already received a boost in the polls after his speech to the U.S. Congress last week, and the back-to-back attacks on Hezbollah and Hamas have restored Israel’s image of taking action against its enemies, said Aviv Bushinsky, a former communications adviser to the prime minister.