Cowardly strike

The assassination of the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in the early hours of Wednesday (July 31) morning in Iran may well have quashed any chances of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the immediate future. The former’s murderous assault on Gaza, which has already led to the deaths of over 39,000 Palestinians, is now quite likely to continue for the rest of the year while the turmoil keeps spreading beyond the occupied territories and consuming the rest of the Middle East. Haniyeh’s death was confirmed mere hours after he attended a swearing-in ceremony for Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian while one of his bodyguards was also found dead at Haniyeh’s residence in Tehran. While there was no immediate comment from Israel, all signs point to the Zionist state, given its use of similar tactics in the past. Iran is no stranger to such assassinations, a tool frequently used by Israel against its nuclear scientists, and this latest murder highlights its mounting security challenges given its support for the Palestinian cause and the crippling sanctions imposed on it by the US.

But Iran is not the only nation in Israel’s crosshairs. The risk of a wider Israeli conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon is also growing. Less than a day prior to Haniyeh’s assassination, Israel also claimed to have killed the Hezbollah commander it accuses of having orchestrated the strike on a Druze village in the Golan Heights, apparently via an airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut. It appears that no group, state or country that has anything to do with the Palestinian cause is safe from Israeli retaliation. That this cause is just and it is Israel conducting an illegal genocide and occupation does not seem to matter – least of all to the US, which has typically responded to the Haniyeh assassination by saying it would help ease tensions but would also help defend Israel if it were attacked. In other words, no matter what illegal and extra-territorial steps Israel takes, it can keep counting on the US to back it and bail it out.

That being said, none of Israel’s opponents seem to be the least bit deterred by its frenzied violence. It is almost as if this is something they have come to expect. Responding to the Haniyeh murder, Iran’s new president has promised that his country will “defend its territorial integrity, honour, pride and dignity, and make the terrorist invaders regret their cowardly action”. Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official has said that “Hamas is a concept and an institution and not persons” and that the movement remains “confident of victory”. And this here is the key. The Palestinian cause is an ideal. No matter how many Palestinians and Palestinian allies Israel decides to murder, the idea of a free and independent Palestine will not die. The only variable in the equation is how many will have to die before justice can take its course. The fact is that Israel is more isolated and discredited on the global stage than ever before. Countries firmly within the Western orbit are now recognizing the Palestinian state while calls for a boycott of Israel are only growing louder in Western capitals. Israel has not only been condemned across the Muslim world for Haniyeh’s murder, but Russia and China have also spoken up against it. How long can the rest of the world coddle Israel’s murderous ways?