Turkiye was largest delegation to attend Haniyeh's funeral

Hamas yesterday said that Turkiye participated with the largest official, parliamentary and popular delegation in the funeral of the movement’s head, Ismail Haniyeh.

A Turkish delegation headed by Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus and Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz participated in Haniyeh’s funeral, which was held on Friday in the Qatari capital Doha, while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan performed absentee funeral prayer for Haniyeh in Istanbul.

In a statement, Hamas thanked Iran and Qatar for holding funeral prayers for Haniyeh, as well as “Turkiye, its president, government, parliament and people for participating with the largest delegation.”

READ: Several countries hold funeral services for Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh

Several countries have absentee prayers for Haniyeh and his bodyguard who were killed last Wednesday in Iran’s capital Tehran where they were attending the inauguration of the new president.

Hamas and Iran believe Israel is behind his assassination, however the occupation state has not commented on his murder.

The assassination came a day after Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukr, was killed in an Israeli air strike in Beirut’s southern suburb. Israel has claimed responsibility for his murder.

Fears have grown about a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah and Iran amid an exchange of cross-border attacks between the two sides.

The escalation came against the backdrop of a deadly Israeli onslaught on Gaza which has killed more than 39,600 Palestinians since October.

READ: Israel summons Turkish envoy over half-mast salute for Hamas leader