TEHRAN / DOHA: The assassination of the political face of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh sent shockwaves around the world, galvinising Palestinian factions and prompting a sharp response from Iran that many fear could lead to further escalation.

It also appears to set back any chances of an imminent ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

Doha-based Haniyeh, who had attended the inauguration of new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian a day earlier, was killedin the early hours of Wednesday in northern Tehran.

Although the attack was widely assumed to have been carried out by Israel, the Netanyahu`s government made no claim of responsibility or comment on the killing. Hamas, however, claimed that he was killed in an Israeli air strike.

Iran`s Revolutionary Guards also announced the death, saying Haniyeh`s residence in Tehran was hit and he was killed along with a bodyguard.

Details on how Haniyeh was killed remain sketchy, with Iran`s Fars News Agency saying he was `mar-tyred by a projectile from the air`, raising speculation of a possible strike by a missile or a drone.

Iranian media said the 2am (2230 GMT) strike targeted `the special residences for war veterans in north Tehran` where Haniyeh was staying.

An `official and public` funeral ceremony for Haniyeh will be held in Tehran on Thursday before his body is flown to Qatar, his base in recent years, for burial on Friday, Hamas said.

In contrast to the rest of Hamas`s military leadership, Haniyeh was afigure relatively visible in public, making trips abroad including to Turkey where he held talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, including a meeting most recently in April.

Observers say Hamas has several possible candidates to replace Haniyeh, notably Khaled Meshaal, the group`s former leader who survived an Israeli assassination attempt in Jordan in 1997, and today resides in Qatar.

Whoever emerges, experts say it won`t impact the way Hamas conducts itself in the Gaza Strip, where leaders including Yahya Sinwar have been directing operations with a significant degree of autonomy during the ongoingIsraeliaggression.

Vows of vengeance The assassination occurred less than 24 hours after Israel claimed to have killed Hezbollah`s most senior military commander in Beirut, in retaliation for a deadly rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Following the news of the killing, Tehran has declared three days of national mourning.

Iran`s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened `harsh punishment` for Haniyeh`s killing, saying: `We consider it our duty to seek revenge for his blood as he was martyred in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Iran`s new President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a statement later Wednesday: `The Zionists will soon see the consequences of their cowardly and terrorist act.` `Such measures are a sign that the policies of the Zionist regime have reached a dead end,` he added.

Hamas political bureau member Musa Abu Marzuk vowed the group would retaliate. `The assassina-tion of leader Ismail Haniyeh is a cowardly act and will not go unanswered,` he said.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas also condemned Haniyeh`s killing as a `cowardly act`, while otherfactionsintheIsraelioccupied West Bank called for a general strike and protest marches across the territory.

In Ramallah, headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, news of Haniyeh`s death has been greeted with dismay.

`It`s opening the door of hell,`SabriSaidam,deputy secretary general of the Central Committee of the ruling party and Hamas rivals, Fatah, told BBC News. `Not only did I feel that Israel was targeting the life of Ismail Haniyeh, he said, `but rather the lifeof any settlement in the region. Israel has killed all hopes and aspirations for an end to hostilities.

On the regional front, both Hezbollah and Houthis in Yemen termed the attack `a heinous crime`, vowing a more determined effort from all resistance fighters.

Shocked reaction Notwithstanding the sketchy nature of details about his killing, the news of Haniyeh`s assassination in Iran has stunned theinternational community.

Pakistan termed the killing a `reckless act`, describing his assassination in an air strike blamed on Israel as `terrorism` `Pakistan views with serious concern the growing Israeli adventurism in the region. Its latest acts constitute a dangerous escalation in an already volatile region and undermine efforts for peace,` the Foreign Office said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the United States was `notawareof orinvolvedin`the killing of Haniyeh.

The White House later said that an Israeli strike that killed a Hezbollah commander in Beirut and the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran `don`t help` regional tensions but downplayed the risk of an imminent descent into the allout war.

Afghanistan`s Taliban government also called it `a great loss`, hailing Haniyeh as `an intelligent and resourceful Palestinian leader`. `He was suc-cessful and left the lessons of resistance, sacrifice, patience, tolerance, struggle and practical sacrifice to his followers,` Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.

`This shameful act aims to sabotage the Palestinian cause, the glorious Gazan resistance and our Palestinian brothers` just fight, and to intimidate Palestinians,` Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a social media post.-Agencies/ Monitoring Desk