Rallies are taking place in several cities and protesters are promising that the struggle for freedom will continue.
Palestinians gathered in various locations across the occupied West Bank to protest the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas.
Haniyeh was killed Wednesday morning in the Iranian capital Tehran, along with one of his bodyguards, when the building where he was staying was targeted. Hamas blamed Israel, which has not yet commented.
The assassination, which came about ten months after the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, sparked shock and anger across Palestine.
In the West Bank, protests took place in Ramallah, Hebron, Bethlehem, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm, Tubas and Qalqilya. Protesters carried Palestinian flags and dozens of green Hamas flags and chanted “The people want the Qassam Brigades,” a reference to the group’s military wing.
“This assassination will cause confusion, but our resistance will continue. Other leaders will take responsibility, because this cause is not just ours, it is the cause of the whole world,” one woman told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“We have become accustomed throughout our lives to the assassinations of the leaders of our national factions, whether they are Hamas or others like Fatah or leftist movements,” one man said, adding that the struggle for freedom will continue.
Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, condemned Haniyeh’s killing, calling it a “dangerous development.”
Abbas called on the Palestinian people to “unite, be patient and determined in the face of the Israeli occupation.”
In Ramallah, support for Hamas is scarce. Ramallah is the administrative capital of the occupied West Bank and is governed by the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, which has long been in conflict with Hamas.
Israel began attacking Gaza, vowing to eliminate Hamas and kill its leaders after the group launched an October 7 attack in southern Israel that led to the deaths of some 1,139 people and the capture of more than 200.
In Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Palestinians mourning Haniyeh’s death said the killing would complicate efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement.
“This man could have signed the prisoner exchange deal with the Israelis,” Saleh al-Shannar, who was displaced from his home in northern Gaza, told the AP. “Why did they kill him? They killed peace, not Ismail Haniyeh.”
Nour Abu Salam, a displaced woman, said the killing shows that Israel does not want to end the war and establish peace in the region. “By killing Haniyeh, they are destroying everything,” she said.
