Link to article: https://apnews.com/article/iran-hamas-israel-30968a7acb31cd8b259de9650014b779
On July 31, 2024, Ismail Haniyeh, who was Hamas’ head political leader, was killed. This happened in the Iranian capital of Tehran while Haniyeh was visiting for Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian’s swearing-in ceremony which happened the day before. Iran held a funeral parade for Haniyeh the following Thursday. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is now swearing revenge on Israel, who is suspected to be behind the attack, by using the threat of more missile strikes. This new development in the war is suspected to postpone cease-fire and hostage agreements. Iran is now possibly working to directly strike back at Israel along with other attacks through allied groups known as the “Axis of Resistance”.
This assassination is very important to the future of this Middle Eastern war. I think this lit the fire again for some groups and countries against Israel even though it is not explicitly known that Israel was behind the attack. I expect that peace treaties and ceasefires will now be postponed and that missile strikes or other retaliation will heighten because of the anger Iran and other countries are feeling. I think this event will bring the region into an increased state of war that will continue to include more countries.
Iran is expected to respond by siding more heavily with Hamas and other organizations such as Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels. They have also announced that Israel has “prepared a harsh punishment for itself” by killing Haniyeh and so it seems that Iran will continue to strike back with more missiles and bombs. Israel may respond with tighter security around their own political leaders and strengthened alliances so that they will not be outnumbered or overpowered. This is very relevant to class topics because it shows the importance of global actors such as a non-governmental organization like Hamas. This gives us insight on how NGOs are relevant to the relations of countries. It also shows how countries such as Iran view multi-nation states and how that differs from other countries around the world because some countries like Iran will work with NGOs such as Hamas, but other countries will only work with the Israeli government. These global actors add another level of depth to the workings of international relations.