- 31 Jul 2024 - 23:59(23:59 GMT)
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For more on the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, read our explainer here.
You can also read about Fuad Shukr, the Hezbollah commander killed by Israel in Beirut here.
For more on Al Jazeera journalists Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi killed by an Israeli strike in the Shati refugee camp, you can read our article here.
And you can always find our latest coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza here.
- 31 Jul 2024 - 23:50(23:50 GMT)
What happened on Wednesday?
We will be moving our live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza to a new live page shortly.
But before we do that, here is a recap of what has happened today:
- Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran’s capital, Tehran.
- Hezbollah confirmed its top commander Fuad Shukr was killed in Tuesday’s Israeli strike on Beirut.
- An Al Jazeera journalist and a camera operator were killed in an Israeli attack on Gaza. Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi – both 27 – were killed in the Shati refugee camp in an Israeli strike on their vehicle.
- Several countries, including Germany and the US, have urged their citizens to either leave Lebanon or not visit at all at this time.
- Protests have erupted in the occupied West Bank, Tunisia and Turkey to condemn Haniyeh’s killing.
- Yemen’s Houthis have said that Israel should expect a “wave of retaliation” following Haniyeh’s assassination.
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has denounced strikes on Beirut and Tehran as a “dangerous escalation”.
- 31 Jul 2024 - 23:40(23:40 GMT)
Latest casualty figures
Advertisement - 31 Jul 2024 - 23:30(23:30 GMT)
‘Decades of assassinations unable to thwart Palestinian resistance’
Fathi Nimer, Palestine policy fellow at Al-Shabaka – a global independent Palestinian think tank – says Palestinians will remember Haniyeh as “someone who was true to his origin”.
Having grown up as a refugee in Gaza, he lived the Palestinian experience – attending UNRWA schools and working to support his family, Nimer told Al Jazeera. Haniyeh “played integral parts in multiple milestones in Palestinian history”.
In the 2006 legislative elections, Haniyeh was nominated as Hamas’s top candidate for the legislative council, and after an electoral victory, he was appointed prime minister.
“To this day, Haniyeh remains the only Palestinian prime minister to reach that position through the popular mandate of the ballot box,” Nimer said. “He will be remembered as someone who was true to his origin, he practised what he preached, and his position never shielded him from the ravages of Israel’s siege and bombardment.
“His children and grandchildren were among the tens of thousands of victims of Israel’s genocide. He was assassinated like his predecessors, and it is possible that his successors might also face a similar fate. Yet it remains clear that decades of these assassinations were unable to thwart Palestinian resistance, and their capabilities continue to develop and tip the balance of power in the region.”
- 31 Jul 2024 - 23:20(23:20 GMT)
Who was Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political chief killed in Iran?
Haniyeh, 62, has been killed in Iran’s capital, Tehran, shortly after attending the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s newly elected president.
Read our story for what we know about him and his life from birth and imprisonment to becoming the political leader of Hamas.
![Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated this morning in Tehran. [Reuters/Mohammed Salem]](/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Haniyeah-1722424368.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C480&quality=80)
Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated early on July 31, 2024, in Tehran [Mohammed Salem/Reuters] - 31 Jul 2024 - 23:10(23:10 GMT)
Lebanon warns UNSC that war would ‘spread to the whole world’
Lebanon’s Charges d’Affaires for the UN, Hadi Hachem, has warned the UNSC that a conflict in the Middle East would have global repercussions.
He said that while the exact circumstances behind the attack on Majdal Shams were still unknown, it could have taken place because “Israel has occupied the area since 1967” while failing to implement numerous UN resolutions calling for it to withdraw from the Golan Heights and other occupied territories.
“Israel’s claim that it seeks to protect the population it occupies is a display of hypocrisy,” Hachem said.
“The real goal of Israel is to prolong and escalate the hostilities and it is ironic that the killer of tens of thousands of children in Gaza sheds tears for the children of the occupied Syrian Golan.”
Hachem also warned the international community to prevent the outbreak of a regional conflict. “What starts in the Middle East will spread to the whole world,” he said.
- 31 Jul 2024 - 23:00(23:00 GMT)
More reactions from UN Security Council members
Here are what some of the members of the UN Security Council said at the emergency meeting on the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh:
- China: “This act was a blatant attempt to sabotage peace efforts. [China urges Israel] to halt all its military operations in Gaza and immediately stop its collective punishment of the people in Gaza.”
- France: “We call for the utmost responsibility and restraint in order to avoid a regional conflagration.”
- Guyana: “The history of colonialism has shown us, Mr President, that no people consent to subjugation and certainly not of the kind that Israel has visited on the Palestinian people. The desire for freedom is innate.”
- Malta: “Efforts towards an immediate and permanent ceasefire to the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza must not cease.”
- Russia: The “political assassination [of Ismail Haniyeh] … strikes a serious blow, primarily for the mediated negotiations between Hamas and Israel aimed at a ceasefire in Gaza.”
- 31 Jul 2024 - 22:45(22:45 GMT)
Syria says Golan Heights attack ‘weaponised’ by Israel
Syria’s UN ambassador Koussay al-Dahhak has dismissed as “lies” claims that a rocket attack on Majdal Shams, in the occupied Golan Heights, targeted Israel’s population.
“Syria reiterates that Syrian Arab Golan is and has always been Syrian Arab territory,” al-Dahhak said, adding that the Druze community that lives in the area has long rejected Israeli citizenship.
The attack was nonetheless “weaponised by Israel to continue its aggression on the states of the region”, he added.
Al-Dahhak also contested Israel’s claim that it is defending itself. “Syria reiterates that an occupying entity cannot claim that they are defending themselves,” he said.
- 31 Jul 2024 - 22:30(22:30 GMT)
Israel calls Iran ‘engine of death and destruction’ at UNSC
Israel’s representative, Jonathan Miller, has told the UN Security Council that its emergency meeting had been called for by the world’s greatest “sponsor of terrorism”, Iran.
“Iran is not merely a sponsor of terrorism, it is the very machine driving the engine of death and destruction that threatens us all,” he said.
“We urge the international community to hold Tehran accountable for its crimes,” Miller added, citing the recent rocket attack on Majdal Shams as an example. The Iran-backed Hezbollah group has denied responsibility.
By contrast, Miller said Israel conducted a “precise strike against a Hezbollah commander, a senior terrorist with the blood of Israelis and many others on his hands”.
Advertisement - 31 Jul 2024 - 22:15(22:15 GMT)
Haniyeh’s assassination shows Israel intends to expand the war to the entire region: Iran
The Iranian ambassador to the UN has addressed the UN Security Council. Here are the main points made by Amir Saeid Iravani during the emergency meeting:
- Haniyeh’s assassination is another manifestation of Israel’s decades-long pattern of terrorism and sabotage targeting Palestinians and their supporters.
- Israel was also pursuing the political goal of disrupting the first day of Iran’s new government.
- Iran condemns in the strongest possible terms this terrorist act and the most serious violation of international law and national security.
- This is a serious breach of peace and security that requires immediate action by the UN Security Council.
- It also suggests that Israel’s intention is to expand the war to the entire region.
- 31 Jul 2024 - 22:00(22:00 GMT)
March in support of Palestine in Tunisian city of Sfax
We reported earlier of pro-Palestine demonstrations being held in Tunis.
Tunisian activists on Wednesday also turned up in large numbers for a march in support of Gaza in the streets of the southeastern city of Sfax.
The participants waved the Palestinian flag and the flags of the resistance factions and chanted slogans in support of the Palestinian cause.
- 31 Jul 2024 - 21:50(21:50 GMT)
Israel ‘must be stopped’, Palestinian official tells UNSC
Feda Abdelhady Nasser, the deputy permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the UN, has told the Security Council that “Israel has been the oppressor, tormentor and murderer of Palestinians for decades, and it is the longstanding destabiliser of our region”.
“It must be stopped,” she said. “We call once again with utmost urgency on the Security Council, General Assembly and all law-abiding, peace-loving nations to act forthwith to bring a halt to the horrific, criminal Israeli aggressions against the Palestinian people and on our region.”
Nasser demanded accountability for the killing of Haniyeh and for the “murder and injury of over 130,000 Palestinian children, women and men across these past 300 days of horror and hell in Gaza”.
“The international community has a choice to make – let it be for peace and security, do not let Israel drag us all to the abyss,” she added.
- 31 Jul 2024 - 21:40(21:40 GMT)
WATCH: What is the fallout from the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran?
- 31 Jul 2024 - 21:30(21:30 GMT)
UK resolute in support to Israel and its ‘right to defend itself’
Barbara Woodward, UK ambassador to the UN, has told the UNSC that the UK is resolute in its support for Israel and its “right to defend itself in line with international humanitarian law”.
Woodward cited the drone strike by Yemen’s Houthi group on Tel Aviv earlier this month and the rocket attack on Majdal Shams on Sunday as evidence of Iran’s destabilising action.
“We have repeatedly been clear in this council of Iran’s role in destabilising the region through its use of proxies, including Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis. This must cease,” the UK ambassador said.
“The attempt of Iran and its proxies to use the war in Gaza as justification for further violence is perverse, and we reject it entirely.”
- 31 Jul 2024 - 21:20(21:20 GMT)
WATCH: Al Jazeera correspondent, cameraman killed in Gaza
A reminder that earlier today, Israeli strikes targeted and killed Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and his camera operator Rami al-Rifi in Gaza City.
- 31 Jul 2024 - 21:10(21:10 GMT)
US ‘not aware or involved in’ killing of Haniyeh
Wood, who is addressing the UN Security Council on behalf of the US, says Washington was “not aware of or involved in the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh”.
“We have no independent confirmation as to Hamas’s claims regarding his death,” the US official said. “It is best not to speculate on the impact that these events will have. A broader war is neither imminent or inevitable.”
Wood urged the UNSC to pressure Iran to stop escalating its attacks on Israel through its proxies, as well as arming and financing “terrorist groups”.
- 31 Jul 2024 - 21:00(21:00 GMT)
US calls on UNSC to stand with Israel
Robert Wood, US deputy ambassador to the UN, has taken the floor at the Security Council.
The US has again blamed Hezbollah for the rocket attack on a football field in Majdal Shams on Sunday, despite the Lebanese group having denied responsibility.
“We call on the Security Council to send an unambiguous message to Hezbollah by standing with Israel as it defends itself against Hezbollah’s repeated attacks,” Wood said.
He added that other Iranian-backed groups have been conducting “brazen attacks” that endanger regional peace.
If Iran does not abide by UNSC resolutions, then the body must consider taking additional measures to “hold Iran accountable and address repeated action by its terrorist proxies”, he said.
Advertisement - 31 Jul 2024 - 20:50(20:50 GMT)
WATCH: What is the fallout from Haniyeh’s killing in Tehran?
- 31 Jul 2024 - 20:40(20:40 GMT)
Tunisians protest assassination of Haniyeh
Hundreds of people gathered in Tunis to protest Haniyeh’s assassination.
The demonstrators, carrying Palestinian flags and chanting slogans, expressed their outrage at what they viewed as a targeted attack by Israel in Tehran.
The assassination took place less than 24 hours after Israel said it killed Hezbollah’s most senior military commander in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
Demonstrators carry pictures of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Iran, during a protest in Tunis, Tunisia July 31, 2024 [Jihed Abidellaoui/Reuters] - 31 Jul 2024 - 20:30(20:30 GMT)
If you’re just joining us
Let’s bring you up to speed with the latest developments:
- Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran’s capital, Tehran.
- Hezbollah confirmed its top commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut.
- An Al Jazeera journalist and a camera operator killed in an Israeli attack on Gaza. Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi – both 27 – were killed in Shati refugee camp in an Israeli strike on their vehicle.
- Several countries, including Germany and the US, have urged their citizens to either leave Lebanon or not to visit at all at this time.
- Protests have erupted in the occupied West Bank, Tunisia and Turkey to condemn Haniyeh’s killing.
- Yemen’s Houthis have said that Israel should expect a “wave of retaliation” following Haniyeh’s assassination.
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has denounced strikes on Beirut and Tehran as a “dangerous escalation”.
Israel war on Gaza updates: Fears of escalation grow after Haniyeh killing
These were the updates on Israel’s war on Gaza for Wednesday, July 31.
Published On 31 Jul 2024
This live page is now closed. You can continue to follow our coverage of the war in Gaza here.
- Hamas says its political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli missile attack in Iran’s capital, Tehran.
- The strike drew threats of revenge and stoked further fears of a wider escalation in Israel’s war on Gaza.
- Hezbollah has confirmed the death of its military commander Fouad Shukr, targeted by Israel yesterday in a strike on Beirut.
- Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and camera operator Rami al-Refee have been killed in an Israeli attack on Gaza.
- At least 39,445 people have been killed and 91,073 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 and more than 200 were taken captive.