The funeral prayer of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh took place on Friday in Pakistan which was performed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, parliamentarians, and hundreds of thousands of people in Islamabad. Nationwide prayers were part of the government’s decisions that included observing a day of mourning.

The main dignitaries who attended the ceremony included Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, the leaders of the ruling coalition, and opposition.

He termed Haniyeh’s assassination as an incident of the worst brutality. Sharif said the entire world, including Pakistan, Turkiye, Malaysia, China, and Russia, condemned the attack. In his address, Sharif announced that Pakistan would continue to provide relief goods and medical assistance to the Palestinians.

JI Chief Leads Funeral Prayer of Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh in Islamabad

Funeral prayers for Ismail Haniyeh were also held in Qatar at the Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque. Haniyeh had resided in Doha with other members of the Hamas political office and is to be buried in a cemetery in Lusail, north of the Qatari capital.

Haniyeh and a bodyguard were killed in a pre-dawn attack on their accommodation in Tehran early Wednesday. The attack was carried out by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards while Haniyeh was in Iran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of President Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel has not commented directly on the attack, which it has been accused of by Hamas, Iran, and others.

The incident has inflamed regional tensions further already heightened by the Gaza war, which also drew in Iran-backed militant groups from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen. Hours before Haniyeh’s assassination, Israel had struck a southern suburb of Beirut, killing Fuad Shukr, the military commander of Hezbollah.

Furthermore, Thursday saw a public funeral ceremony for Haniyeh held in Tehran, where crowds of thousands turned out to mourn the murdered opposition leader. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, led prayers, warning of harsh punishment over the killing of Haniyeh.

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