Ismail Haniyeh, the top leader of Hamas, who was killed in an attack last Wednesday (early Tuesday night) in Tehran, Iran, will be buried in Qatar on Friday.

In addition to Hamas, Iran and others blame Israel for Haniya’s murder. However, the country did not directly comment on this. News from AFP

As a result, the fear of a regional war in the Middle East has intensified. Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political wing of Hamas, lived in Doha, the capital of Qatar, along with other members of the same wing of the Palestinian independence organization.

Al-Jazeera, a Qatar-based media outlet, said that Ismail Haniya will be buried in a cemetery in Lusail area, north of the capital Doha, after the Janaza at Imam Mohammad bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque in Qatar.

Ahead of the burial ceremony, the coffin carrying Hania’s body arrived in Doha on Thursday afternoon from Tehran. Hamas said the funeral will be attended by leaders of Arab and Islamic countries, as well as representatives of the general public and Palestinian groups.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the attack in Tehran killed Haniya and one of his bodyguards. Hania arrived in Tehran last Tuesday to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s newly elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian.

The attack on Haniya in Tehran came just hours after Fuad Shokar, commander of Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group linked to Israel’s Hamas, was killed in an attack on the southern outskirts of Beirut.

Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza has fueled tensions between Iran-backed armed groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. The latest incident of Haniya’s killing has fueled regional tensions.

Thousands of mourners paid their last respects to Ismail Haniya in Tehran yesterday before he was buried today. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei conducted the funeral held there. He has warned of strict response to Haniya’s murder.

Hamas has encouraged to take out protest marches from every mosque after the Friday prayers today against the killing of Haniya and the ongoing Israeli aggression in Gaza.