عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Mourners Pay Respects to Slain Hamas Leaders as Worries of Regional War Mount

This video grab shows senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, center, praying near the coffin of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard during the funeral prayers in Doha, Qatar, Friday Aug. 2, 2024. (The AP)
This video grab shows senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, center, praying near the coffin of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard during the funeral prayers in Doha, Qatar, Friday Aug. 2, 2024. (The AP)
TT
TT

Mourners Pay Respects to Slain Hamas Leaders as Worries of Regional War Mount

This video grab shows senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, center, praying near the coffin of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard during the funeral prayers in Doha, Qatar, Friday Aug. 2, 2024. (The AP)
This video grab shows senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, center, praying near the coffin of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard during the funeral prayers in Doha, Qatar, Friday Aug. 2, 2024. (The AP)

Mourners gathered in Doha on Friday to hold funeral prayers for slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as Iran and its regional allies vowed to retaliate against Israel.

With the bodies of Haniyeh and his bodyguard in coffins draped with Palestinian flags, men knelt and prayed while senior leaders of Hamas' Qatar-based political office paid their respects to Haniyeh's family, The AP reported.

That included two men seen as his possible successors: Khalil Al-Hayya, a Hamas senior official and the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and former Hamas Chief Khaled Mashaal, a close Haniyeh aide.

Al-Hayya told family members that Haniyeh was “no better or dearer” than the children killed in Gaza. Some 39,480 Palestinians have been killed throughout the war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

“We are sure that his blood will bring out victory, dignity and liberation," he said.

The funeral came a day after Israel said it had confirmed that the head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an July 13 airstrike in Gaza, and a few days after Israel said it had killed Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in a strike in Lebanon.

Hamas has yet to comment and had previously claimed Deif survived last month's targeted airstrike.

Israel has yet to claim or deny a role in the killing of Haniyeh, but Hamas and its allies say it was responsible. The group said he was killed in a missile strike on a Tehran guesthouse where he was staying while after attending the inauguration of Iran’s new president.

From Morocco to Iran, demonstrators took to the streets in a show of support for Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran on Wednesday.

“Let Friday be a day of rage to denounce the assassination,” Hamas’ Izzat al-Risheq said in a statement.

A day earlier, supporters paraded through Tehran as Haniyeh's coffin was carried through the city in an ornate vehicle, while hundreds of black-clad mourners packed an auditorium in Beirut to pay respects to the slain Hezbollah commander.

“We’ve entered a new phase that is different from the previous period,” Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, told mourners, vowing a “well-studied retaliation” against Israel.

The killing of two of Hamas’ most senior figures was a victory for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as Israeli forces continue to operate in Gaza, nearly 10 months after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel sparked war.

Domestically, it could help win over skeptics of his war strategy, but internationally, it set off a scramble among mediators to salvage a ceasefire deal and avert regional war.

“We have the basis for a ceasefire. He (Netanyahu) should move on it and they should move on it now," US President Joe Biden said late Thursday, speaking on the tarmac of an air base outside Washington.

But Haniyeh had been among Hamas' main negotiators throughout the ceasefire discussions and his assassination could throw into disarray months of talks.

”You (Israel) cannot achieve peace by killing the negotiators and threatening diplomats," Oncu Keceli, a spokesperson for Türkiye's Foreign Ministry, wrote on the social media platform X.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Israel Says Killed Four Militants Exiting Tunnel in Gaza’s Rafah

Boys walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in the northern Gaza Strip on February 8, 2026. (AFP)
Boys walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in the northern Gaza Strip on February 8, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

Israel Says Killed Four Militants Exiting Tunnel in Gaza’s Rafah

Boys walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in the northern Gaza Strip on February 8, 2026. (AFP)
Boys walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in the northern Gaza Strip on February 8, 2026. (AFP)

Israel's military said it killed four suspected militants who attacked its troops as the armed men emerged from a tunnel in southern Gaza on Monday, calling the group's actions a "blatant violation" of the ceasefire.

Despite a US-brokered truce entering its second phase last month, violence has continued in the Gaza Strip, with Israel and Hamas accusing each other of breaching the agreement.

"A short while ago, four armed terrorists exited an underground tunnel shaft and fired towards soldiers in the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip.... Following identification, the troops eliminated the terrorists," the military said in a statement.

It said none of its troops had been injured in the attack, which it called a "blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement" between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli troops "are continuing to operate in the area to locate and eliminate all the terrorists within the underground tunnel route", the military added.

Gaza health officials have said Israeli air strikes last Wednesday killed 24 people, with Israel's military saying the attacks were in response to one of its officers being wounded by enemy gunfire.

That wave of strikes came after Israel partly reopened the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on February 2, the only gateway to the Palestinian territory that does not pass through Israel.

Israeli forces seized control of the crossing in May 2024 during the war with Hamas, and it had remained largely closed since.

Around 180 Palestinians have left the Gaza Strip since Rafah's limited reopening, according to officials in the territory.

Israel has so far restricted passage to patients and their accompanying relatives.

The second phase of the Gaza ceasefire foresees a demilitarization of the territory -- including the disarmament of Hamas -- along with a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Hamas has repeatedly said that disarmament is a red line, although it has indicated it could consider handing over its weapons to a future Palestinian governing authority.

Israeli officials say Hamas still has around 20,000 fighters and about 60,000 Kalashnikovs in Gaza.

A Palestinian technocratic committee has been set up with a goal of taking over day-to-day governance in the strip, but it remains unclear whether, or how, it will address the issue of demilitarization.

Arab World

Building Collapse in Lebanon's Tripoli Kills 13, Search for Missing Continues

Rescue workers and residents search for survivors in the rubble of a building that collapsed in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo)
Rescue workers and residents search for survivors in the rubble of a building that collapsed in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo)
TT
TT

Building Collapse in Lebanon's Tripoli Kills 13, Search for Missing Continues

Rescue workers and residents search for survivors in the rubble of a building that collapsed in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo)
Rescue workers and residents search for survivors in the rubble of a building that collapsed in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo)

The death toll from the collapse of a residential building in the Lebanese city of Tripoli rose to 13, as rescue teams continued to search for missing people beneath the rubble, Lebanon's National News ‌Agency reported ‌on Monday. 

Rescue ‌workers ⁠in the ‌northern city's Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood have also assisted nine survivors, while the search continued for others still believed to be trapped under the ⁠debris, NNA said. 

Officials said on ‌Sunday that two ‍adjoining ‍buildings had collapsed. 

Abdel Hamid Karameh, ‍head of Tripoli's municipal council, said he could not confirm how many people remained missing. Earlier, the head of Lebanon's civil defense rescue ⁠service said the two buildings were home to 22 residents, reported Reuters. 

A number of aging residential buildings have collapsed in Tripoli, Lebanon's second-largest city, in recent weeks, highlighting deteriorating infrastructure and years of neglect, state media reported, ‌citing municipal officials. 

 

Arab World

Salam Concludes Visit to South Lebanon: Region Must Return to State Authority

Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (L) holds bouquets of flower as he stands next to the mayor of the heavily-damaged southern village of Kfar Shouba, near the border with Israel, during his visit on February 8, 2026. (AFP)
Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (L) holds bouquets of flower as he stands next to the mayor of the heavily-damaged southern village of Kfar Shouba, near the border with Israel, during his visit on February 8, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

Salam Concludes Visit to South Lebanon: Region Must Return to State Authority

Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (L) holds bouquets of flower as he stands next to the mayor of the heavily-damaged southern village of Kfar Shouba, near the border with Israel, during his visit on February 8, 2026. (AFP)
Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (L) holds bouquets of flower as he stands next to the mayor of the heavily-damaged southern village of Kfar Shouba, near the border with Israel, during his visit on February 8, 2026. (AFP)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam vowed on Sunday to work on rebuilding infrastructure in southern villages that were destroyed by Israel during its last war with Hezbollah.

On the second day of a tour of the South, he declared: “We want the region to return to the authority of the state.”

He was warmly received by the locals as he toured a number of border villages that were destroyed by Israel during the conflict. His visit included Kfar Kila, Marjeyoun, Kfar Shouba and Kfar Hamam. He kicked off his tour on Saturday by visiting Tyre and Bint Jbeil.

The visit went above the differences between the government and Hezbollah, which has long held sway over the South. Throughout the tour, Salam was greeted by representatives of the “Shiite duo” of Hezbollah and its ally the Amal movement, as well as MPs from the Change bloc and others opposed to Hezbollah.

In Kfar Kila, the locals raised a banner in welcome of the PM, also offering him flowers and an olive branch. The town was the worst hit during the war with Israel, which destroyed nearly 90 percent of its buildings and its forces regularly carrying out incursions there.

Salam said the town was “suffering more than others because of the daily violations and its close proximity to the border.”

He added that its residents cannot return to their homes without the reconstruction of its infrastructure, which should kick off “within the coming weeks.”

“Our visit underlines that the state and all of its agencies stand by the ruined border villages,” he stressed.

“The government will continue to make Israel commit” to the ceasefire agreement, he vowed. “This does not mean that we will wait until its full withdrawal from occupied areas before working on rehabilitating infrastructure.”

Amal MP Ali Hassan Khalil noted that the people cannot return to their town because it has been razed to the ground by Israel and is still coming under its attacks.

In Marjeyoun, Salam said the “state has long been absent from the South. Today, however, the army has been deployed and we want it to remain so that it can carry out its duties.”

“The state is not limited to the army, but includes laws, institutions, social welfare and services,” he went on to say.

Reconstruction in Marjeyoun will cover roads and electricity and water infrastructure. The process will take months, he revealed, adding: “The state is serious about restoring its authority.”

“We want this region to return to the fold of the state.”

MP Elias Jarade said the government “must regain the trust of the southerners. This begins with the state embracing and defending its people,” and protecting Lebanon’s sovereignty.

MP Firas Hamdan said the PM’s visit reflects his keenness on relations with the South.

Ali Murad, a candidate who ran against Hezbollah and Amal in Marjeyoun, said the warm welcome accorded to Salam demonstrates that the “state needs the South as much as the people of the South need the state.”

“We will always count on the state,” he vowed.

Hezbollah MP Hussein Jishi welcomed Salam’s visit, hoping “it would bolster the southerners’ trust in the state.”

Kataeb leader MP Sami Gemayel remarked that the warm welcome accorded to the PM proves that the people of the South “want the state and its sovereignty. They want legitimate institutions that impose their authority throughout Lebanon, without exception.”