South Africa wants ‘thorough investigation’ into Haniyeh assassination

Hamas's political leader was killed in a strike in Tehran that Iran blamed on Israel.

The strike that killed Haniyeh came just hours after Israel said it had killed a top Hezbollah commander in a retaliatory strike on the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

The killings took place as regional tensions were already inflamed by the war in Gaza, a conflict that has drawn in Iran-backed militant groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.

Israel has declined to comment on the Tehran strike.

In a statement on Thursday, Lamola called for a “thorough investigation” into Haniyeh's death and called on all parties to exercise the utmost restraint to avoid any acts that would escalate tensions. 

"Such acts of extrajudicial killings violate international law and the principles of human rights, undermining global efforts to promote peace and stability in the Middle East,” Lamola said. 

"No country is above the law, and all nations must respect international law, particularly the principles outlined in the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

"Any form of extrajudicial killing is a blatant violation of these principles, and extra-judicial killings of this nature have a destabilising effect. It is crucial that the perpetrators of such actions must be brought to justice," the minister added.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has already 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."

Speaking in a televised address on Wednesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu avoided directly mentioning Haniyeh but said Israel had "delivered crushing blows to all our enemies" in recent days. 

*Additional reporting by AFP

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