Hamas leader Haniyeh's assassination violates UN Charter, China FM says

 The assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh “violates” the basic norms of international relations and the UN Charter, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

The killing “leads to further escalation” and has pushed the region into a “more dangerous” situation, warned Wang.“Retaliatory action leads to a vicious cycle, and violence begets more violence, exacerbating conflict,” he added.

Tensions are running high in the Middle East following the 31 July assassination of Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran and Israel’s killing of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut just hours earlier.

Hamas and Iran both accuse Israel of carrying out Haniyeh’s assassination, but Tel Aviv has not commented on the attack.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei has vowed a “harsh punishment” for the attack on Iranian soil.

On Tuesday, the Palestinian resistance group named its Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar as the new head of its political bureau.

Wang said Beijing “firmly opposes and strongly condemns the assassination, which violates the basic norms of international relations, infringes upon Iran’s sovereignty, and undermines the ceasefire negotiation process in Gaza.”

“The key to avoiding the deterioration and escalation of the situation is to achieve a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible,” said Wang.

Such acts of assassination, Wang said, “severely undermine efforts to promote peace, and make a ceasefire in Gaza increasingly unattainable.”

“There should be no double standards when it comes to the Gaza conflict,” said Wang.

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