Iran vows ‘crushing response’ against Israel after Hamas chief’s assassination

TEHRAN, Iran

The top commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Monday vowed a “crushing response” against Israel following last week’s assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iranian capital Tehran.

“The Zionist regime killed a fighter (Haniyeh) who was advocating for the rights of his people,” Major General Hossein Salami said in a speech in Tehran cited by the local Tasnim News Agency.

"The Israeli occupation miscalculated by assassinating Haniyeh, and the entity will receive a crushing response,” he added. “Israeli regime will realize that it has miscalculated after it receives a hard response from Iran.”

The Iranian commander said that Israel “is digging its own grave” with its actions in the region.

“If Israel receives a harsh response for the assassination of Haniyeh, it will understand its error,” he added.

Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran on July 31 after attending the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s new president. Hamas and Iran accused Israel of carrying out Haniyeh’s assassination, while Tel Aviv has not denied or confirmed its responsibility.

Israel is on high alert for a potential military response from Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, which also vowed to retaliate following the death of senior commander Fouad Shukr in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last week.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack last October by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

More than 39,600 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 91,600 injured, according to local health authorities.

Almost 10 months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio