The Guardian view on the killing of a Hamas leader: the Middle East circles the abyss | Editorial

The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran brings the region closer to the conflagration that many have feared for months

Dim hopes that a ceasefire in Gaza might be in view have been extinguished, for now at least, with the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel has not claimed responsibility for killing the political leader of Hamas, but Iran's supreme leader, AyatollahAli Khamenei, was swift to vow vengeance.

It came hours after Israel said it had killed FuadShukr, Hezbollah's top military commander, in an airstrike in southern Beirut, blaming him for the attack that killed 12 children in the occupied Golan Heights last week. The militant group did not immediately confirm his death; ambiguity leaves it room for manoeuvre too. Add in recent strikes on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, one day after Israel pledged revenge for a Houthi drone attack, and a pattern is clear.

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