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Slain Hamas Chief Haniyeh to Be Buried in Qatar

A banner bearing the picture of slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh in Lebanon. Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP
A banner bearing the picture of slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh in Lebanon. Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP
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Slain Hamas Chief Haniyeh to Be Buried in Qatar

A banner bearing the picture of slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh in Lebanon. Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP
A banner bearing the picture of slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh in Lebanon. Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP

Qatar is to hold on Friday funeral ceremonies for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh after his killing in an attack blamed on Israel that has deepened fears of a regional escalation.
Haniyeh, the Palestinian armed group's political chief, had resided in Doha along with other members of the Hamas political office, AFP reported.
He will be buried at a cemetery in Lusail, north of the Qatari capital, following funeral prayers at the Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab mosque.
Hamas has said "Arab and Islamic leaders" as well representatives of other Palestinian factions and members of the public would attend the events.
Haniyeh and a bodyguard were killed in the pre-dawn attack on their accommodation in Tehran early Wednesday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said.
He had traveled to Iran to attend Tuesday's swearing-in of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Israel, accused by Hamas, Iran and others of the attack, has not directly commented on it.
The Hamas leader's assassination came just hours after Israel struck a southern suburb of Beirut, killing Fuad Shukr, the military commander of Hamas-allied Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The killings are the latest of several incidents that have inflamed regional tensions during the Gaza war which has drawn in Iran-backed militant groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.
A public funeral ceremony for Haniyeh was held in Tehran on Thursday with crowds of mourners paying their respects.
Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei led prayers for Haniyeh having earlier threatened "harsh punishment" for his killing.
'Rage'
Türkiye and Pakistan announced a day of mourning on Friday in honor of Haniyeh, while Hamas has called for a "day of furious rage" to coincide with the burial.
The Palestinian group encouraged "roaring anger marches... from every mosque" following Friday prayers to protest Haniyeh's killing as well as the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for its October 7 attack on Israel that ignited the war in Gaza.
That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Hamas also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed at least 39,480 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.
- 'High price' -
Haniyeh's coffin arrived in Doha on Thursday afternoon, Qatar-based network Al Jazeera reported, broadcasting images of a convoy including in internal security force vehicles traveling down Doha's corniche road.
Qatar has hosted Hamas's political bureau with the blessing of the United States since 2012 following the Palestinian group's closure of its office in Damascus.
Haniyeh had played a key role in talks for a potential truce in Gaza, liaising with mediators Qatar, which has led months of behind-the-scenes negotiations alongside Egypt and the US.
Reacting to Haniyeh's death, Qatar's prime minister said the killing had thrown the Gaza war mediation process into doubt.
"How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?" Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on social media site X.
The international community called for calm and a focus on securing a ceasefire in Gaza -- which Haniyeh had accused Israel of obstructing.
Israel warned its adversaries on Thursday they would "pay a very high price" for any "aggression".
"Israel is at a very high level of preparation for any scenario, both defensive and offensive," Netanyahu said in a statement.
"Those who attack us, we will attack in return."

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Arab World

Tetteh: Despite UN Engagement, No Progress in Libya Roadmap

Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya Hanna Tetteh Getty)
Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya Hanna Tetteh Getty)
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Tetteh: Despite UN Engagement, No Progress in Libya Roadmap

Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya Hanna Tetteh Getty)
Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya Hanna Tetteh Getty)

The UN’s top envoy for Libya, Hanna Tetteh, has informed the Security Council that despite active United Nations engagement, the Libyan House of Representatives and the High Council of State have failed to make progress on the first steps of the agreed political roadmap, including establishing a mechanism to select the board of the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) and advancing electoral legislation.

Briefing the Council in New York on Wednesday, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General said: “Their inability to use their agreed mechanism and follow-on unilateral actions has further eroded their credibility."

Tetteh added that Libyan public perceptions reflect a growing belief that the bodies are “unable or unwilling” to deliver.

She told Council members that she has begun consultations with key actors on an alternative two-step approach aimed at restoring momentum. Should a smaller group of Libyan representatives fail to agree on the roadmap’s milestones, she warned, a broader convening would be required. “We cannot wait indefinitely,” she emphasized.

The UN envoy also issued a stark warning about escalating tensions within Libya’s judicial system.

She said “contradictory, parallel judicial decisions put into jeopardy the unity of the legal and judicial systems,” cautioning that the situation “is a red line that if crossed can undermine the unity of the state.”

She urged Libyan leaders to refrain from further escalatory steps and called on the Council to hold accountable those taking actions that threaten to fracture the judiciary.

Tetteh also warned that transnational criminal networks continue to expand, turning Libya into a major transit hub for drug trafficking and sustaining illicit economies linked to corruption and armed groups.

Arab World

Damascus, in Cooperation with Baghdad, Foils Plot to Smuggle Drugs Abroad

Quantities of Captagon prepared for smuggling abroad- SANA
Quantities of Captagon prepared for smuggling abroad- SANA
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Damascus, in Cooperation with Baghdad, Foils Plot to Smuggle Drugs Abroad

Quantities of Captagon prepared for smuggling abroad- SANA
Quantities of Captagon prepared for smuggling abroad- SANA

Syrian authorities said they have thwarted an attempt to smuggle a large shipment of drugs out of the country.

The Syrian Narcotics Directorate said on Wednesday it seized approximately 400,000 captagon pills, weighing about 65 kilograms, during an operation in Homs province in central Syria.

The drugs would have been smuggled to other countries, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported. Two suspects were arrested on suspicion of managing a drug-trafficking network operating across borders.

The operation was carried out in coordination with Iraq’s General Directorate for Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Control, SANA quoted a Syrian Interior Ministry statement as saying.

Earlier this month, the Syrian Narcotics Directorate conducted a joint security operation with the Iraqi authorities targeting an international drug-trafficking network, and seizing about 300,000 Captagon pills. Two people were also arrested.

Arab World

How Gaza Armed Gangs Recruit New Members

Security personnel guard trucks carrying aid as they arrive in Rafah, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the southern Gaza Strip January 17, 2024. (Reuters)
Security personnel guard trucks carrying aid as they arrive in Rafah, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the southern Gaza Strip January 17, 2024. (Reuters)
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How Gaza Armed Gangs Recruit New Members

Security personnel guard trucks carrying aid as they arrive in Rafah, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the southern Gaza Strip January 17, 2024. (Reuters)
Security personnel guard trucks carrying aid as they arrive in Rafah, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the southern Gaza Strip January 17, 2024. (Reuters)

As Hamas moves to strike armed gangs operating in areas of the Gaza Strip under Israeli army control, the groups are responding with defiance, stepping up efforts to recruit young men and expand their ranks.

Videos posted on social media show training exercises and other activities, signaling that the gangs remain active despite pressure from Hamas security services.

Platforms affiliated with Hamas security say some members have recently turned themselves in following mediation by families, clans and community leaders. The gangs have not responded to those statements. Instead, they occasionally broadcast footage announcing new recruits.

Among the most prominent was Hamza Mahra, a Hamas activist who appeared weeks ago in a video released by the Shawqi Abu Nasira gang, which operates north of Khan Younis and east of Deir al-Balah.

Mahra’s appearance has raised questions about how these groups recruit members inside the enclave.

Field sources and others within the security apparatus of a Palestinian armed faction in Gaza told Asharq Al-Awsat that Mahra’s case may be an exception. They described him as a Hamas activist with no major role, despite his grandfather being among the founders of Hamas in Jabalia.

His decision to join the gang was driven by personal reasons linked to a family dispute, they said, not by organizational considerations.

The sources said the gangs exploit severe economic hardship, luring some young men with money, cigarettes and other incentives. Some recruits were heavily indebted and fled to gang-controlled areas to avoid repaying creditors.

Others joined in search of narcotic pills, the sources said, noting that some had previously been detained by Hamas-run security forces on similar charges. Economic hardship and the need for cigarettes and drugs were among the main drivers of recruitment, they added, saying the gangs, with Israeli backing, provide such supplies.

Resentment toward Hamas has also played a role, particularly among those previously arrested on criminal or security grounds and subjected to what the sources described as limited torture during interrogations under established procedures.

According to the sources, some founders or current leaders of the gangs previously served in the Palestinian Authority security services.

They cited Shawqi Abu Nasira, a senior police officer; Hussam al-Astal, an officer in the Preventive Security Service; and Rami Helles and Ashraf al-Mansi, both former officers in the Palestinian Presidential Guard.

These figures, the sources said, approach young men in need and at times succeed in recruiting them by promising help in settling debts and providing cigarettes. They also tell recruits that joining will secure them a future role in security forces that would later govern Gaza.

The sources described the case of a young man who surrendered to Gaza security services last week. He said he had been pressured after a phone call with a woman who threatened to publish the recording unless he joined one of the gangs.

He later received assurances from another contact that he would help repay some of his debts and ultimately agreed to enlist.

During questioning, he said the leader of the gang he joined east of Gaza City repeatedly assured recruits they would be “part of the structure of any Palestinian security force that will rule the sector.”

The young man told investigators he was unconvinced by those assurances, as were dozens of others in the same group.

Investigations of several individuals who surrendered, along with field data, indicate the gangs have carried out armed missions on behalf of the Israeli army, including locating tunnels. That has led to ambushes by Palestinian factions.

In the past week, clashes in the Zaytoun neighborhood south of Gaza City and near al-Masdar east of Deir al-Balah left gang members dead and wounded.

Some investigations also found that the gangs recruited young men previously involved in looting humanitarian aid.