Israelis Fear for Hostages After Hamas Chief’s Killing

AFP/APP
Haifa: Concerns grew among Israelis on Wednesday over the fate of dozens of hostages still held captive in Gaza following the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Haniyeh’s killing “was a mistake as it threatens the possibility of having a hostage deal,” said Anat Noy, a resident of the coastal city of Haifa, in his 50s.
“We woke up today with a sense of fear in our hearts that this can escalate even more. There is no calm… we are afraid.”
On Wednesday, Hamas and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards announced that Haniyeh, 61, had been killed in Tehran in an Israeli air strike.
He was in the Iranian capital to attend the swearing-in on Tuesday of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
As the political chief of the Palestinian movement Hamas, Haniyeh was overseeing the negotiations for a deal to end the war in Gaza and release hostages held in the territory in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said Haniyeh’s killing takes the war with Israel to a “new levels,” warning of “enormous consequences for the entire region”.