Sanaa:

The leader of Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels vowed a “military response” Thursday to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in an attack blamed on Israel.

“There has to be a military response to these crimes, which are shameless and dangerous, and constitute a major escalation by the Israeli enemy,” Abdul Malik al-Huthi said in a televised speech.

The Yemeni rebels have been launching drones and missiles at shipping in the Red Sea since November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians during the Gaza war.

Last month, a deadly Huthi drone strike on Tel Aviv prompted Israeli air strikes on Hodeida, impoverished Yemen’s lifeline port, that killed nine people and triggered a massive inferno.

The rebel leader described the killing of the Hamas chief as “a flagrant violation of all norms and principles”.

He also condemned the killing of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr on Tuesday in a Beirut strike claimed by Israel.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden will speak by phone on Thursday, the White House said, following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, the Iranian capital, earlier this week.

The assassination drew threats of revenge on Israel and fueled concern that the conflict in Gaza was turning into a wider Middle East war. Iran and Hamas have blamed Haniyeh’s killing on Israel, which has neither denied nor confirmed a role in the assassination.

Israel did, however, confirm that it killed a senior commander of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement in Beirut on Tuesday.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan offered little insight into how Haniyeh’s death could affect the Gaza war.

“It is too soon to tell what the impact of his death will have on negotiations (for a ceasefire deal in Gaza), and so I’m not going to speculate on that, especially in light of the broader dynamics and set of events unfolding in the region right now,” Sullivan said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)