Ismail Haniyeh buried in Qatar, mourners vow to continue resistance

Hamas' political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh has been buried in Qatar following his assassination in the Iranian capital Tehran as senior officials in the Palestinian group and other mourners said their fight against Israel would intensify.

His death was one in a series of killings of senior Hamas figures as Israel's war on Gaza nears its 11th month and concern grows that the conflict is spreading across the Middle East.

Hamas and Iran have both accused Israel of carrying out Haniyeh's killing and have pledged to retaliate.

Haniyeh was laid to rest in a cemetery in the city of Lusail after a funeral ceremony on Friday at the Iman Mohamed Ibn Abdul Wahhab Mosque in Qatar's capital Doha.

His coffin, draped in the Palestinian flag, was carried in a procession past hundreds of people along with the casket of his bodyguard, who was killed in the same attack in Tehran on Wednesday.

Mourners at the ceremony included Khaled Meshaal, former senior leader and current head of Hamas in the diaspora. Other top Hamas officials and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani also attended.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters by phone: "Our message to the occupation (Israel) today is that you are sinking deep in the mud and your end is getting closer than ever. The blood of Haniyeh will change all equations."

'Resistance will not end'

Khaled Suleiman, who was among the mourners at the mosque, told Reuters: "Today we came to affirm that the resistance will not end with the martyrdom of the leader, and behind the leader comes a new leader."

"God willing, all of us will continue and all of us are on the way to the liberation of Al Aqsa Mosque, Palestine and Gaza, God willing."

Haniyeh was killed by a missile that hit him directly in a state guesthouse in Tehran where he was staying, senior Hamas official Khalil al Hayya said in Tehran.

The strike was one of several recent hits that have killed senior figures in Hamas or Hezbollah in a conflict that is now stretching from Gaza to the Red Sea and Lebanon and beyond.

Haniyeh was the face of Hamas' international diplomacy as an Israeli offensive destroyed Gaza.

Three of his sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the besieged enclave in April along with four of his grandchildren, Hamas said.

Appointed to the Hamas top job in 2017, Haniyeh moved between Türkiye and Doha, bypassing the travel curbs of the blockaded Gaza.