The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Ahmad Aal Thani, and his ousted father, Hamad bin Khalifa Aal Thani, sat today at the forefront prayers during the funeral of assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh at the Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque in the Qatari capital of Doha. Another attendant at the prayer was Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Aal Thani, alongside a crowd of thousands of worshippers.
The funeral took place after another ceremony in Tehran, led by the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader Khamenei and other government officials. Yet Haniyeh was not buried in Tehran, and his body was brought with a long honorary convoy to the central mosque in Doha named after the founder of the extreme Wahabi school of Islam, where it was received with great honor.
Hamas leaders Khaled Mashaal, Basem Naim and Mousa Abu Marzook, as well as Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nakhaleh, welcomed the body at the Doha International Airport.
Threats against Israel during the funeral
The public ceremony included a eulogy, a sermon and a funeral following the Friday prayer. Participants who took part in the sermon waved Palestinian flags and scarves inside the mosque and chanted slogans, including: “With spirit and blood we will redeem you, shaheed” “With spirit and blood we will redeem you, Al-Aqsa” and “said Leader Ismail: we will never recognize Israel”
Thousands of those who were not lucky enough to enter the mosque for the funeral were seen rallying outside, calling slogans and participating in prayer in the scorching 43 degrees Celsius heat.
Later on, Naem and Abu Marzouk, among the remaining leaders of Hamas, welcomed delegations from across the Islamic and Arab world who came to pay condolences to the terror organization; including one from Taliban-run Afghanistan.
Other viral videos showed delegations of Turkish citizens flying to Qatar to pay a last tribute to the terrorist leader. In this context, Türkiye was reported to have lowered its flag to half mast across the country and its diplomatic missions around the globe as tribute to Haniyeh, including in Israel, where Foreign Minister Israel Katz called the ambassador for a diplomatic reprimand.
Both Istanbul and Doha have been staunch defenders of Hamas for over two decades, providing support to the terrorist organization on both ideological and material levels. Doha has been harboring the leaders of the terrorist organization in the past 12 years, granting them asylum and supporting their counterparts in Gaza through economic and political efforts. Since October 7th, the Qatari Emir has been trying to promote Doha’s role as an actor in brokering hostages-for-convicted-terrorists deals between Israel and Qatar.
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