JERUSALEM (AP) — Thousands of mourners converged around the flag-draped coffin of Hamas' slain political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in the emirate of Qatar on Friday as the fallout surged from his death in an alleged Israeli attack.
The funeral ceremony in Doha, Qatar's capital, attended by members of Gaza's militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups as well as Qatari and Iranian officials, was subdued. But across the Muslim world — from Jordan and Morocco to Yemen and Somalia — angry crowds waving Palestinian flags rushed out of mosques after midday Friday prayers, chanting for revenge.
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Palestinians search for bodies and survivors in a site hit by an Israeli bombardment on Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 13, 2024. The Israeli military said Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, that it has confirmed that the head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)
With destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip behind him, an Israeli soldier waves from a tank, near the Israel-Gaza border in southern Israel, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
Iranians follow the truck carrying the coffins of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard who were killed in an assassination blamed on Israel on Wednesday, during their funeral ceremony at Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) Sq. in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Palestinians search for bodies and survivors in a site hit by an Israeli bombardment on Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 13, 2024. The Israeli military said Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, that it has confirmed that the head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)
FILE -Palestinians inspect the damage at a site hit by an Israeli bombardment on Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 13, 2024. Israel said it targeted Hamas' shadowy military commander Mohammed Deif in a massive strike Saturday in the crowded southern Gaza Strip that killed at least 71 people, according to local health officials. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)
This video grab shows senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, center, praying near the coffin of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard during the funeral prayers in Doha, Qatar, Friday Aug. 2, 2024. (Qatar TV via AP)
This video grab shows Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh's coffin being carried out after the funeral prayers in Doha, Qatar, Friday Aug. 2, 2024. (Qatar TV via AP)
“Let Friday be a day of rage to denounce the assassination,” said Izzat al-Risheq, a senior Hamas official. Haniyeh had lived in Qatar, along with other senior members of Hamas’s political leadership.
Following the back-to-back assassinations of Haniyeh in Tehran early Wednesday and top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut the evening before, international diplomats have scrambled to head off a full-fledged regional war. Iran and its proxies vowed to retaliate. Major airlines canceled flights to Tel Aviv, Israel, and Beirut, Lebanon.
Cyprus said Friday it was preparing for possible mass evacuations of foreign citizens via the island nation, in case of a wider war. France beefed up security for Jewish communities nationwide. Poland warned its citizens against traveling to the Mideast.
Pakistan and Turkey lowered their flags to half-staff, prompting Israel to summon Turkey’s deputy ambassador for a “stern reprimand.”
Turkey's foreign ministry spokesperson, Oncu Keceli, shot back that Israel “cannot achieve peace by killing the negotiators” — a reference to Haniyeh's role in cease-fire talks — while hundreds of Turks gathered at the historic Hagia Sophia to pay tribute to the slain Hamas leader as his funeral service got underway in Doha.
“We are sure that his blood will bring out victory, dignity and liberation,” senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, seen as a possible successor to Haniyeh, said from the Doha mosque where Haniyeh's coffin was displayed beside that of his bodyguard who was also killed in the attack in Tehran.
Israel has not confirmed or denied its role in the targeted killing of Haniyeh.
Hamas said Haniyeh was killed in a strike on a guesthouse in Tehran where he was staying after the swearing-in ceremony of the new Iranian president.
Khaled Kaddoumi, Hamas' representative in Iran, was staying on a lower floor. Kaddoumi said he woke up shortly before 2 a.m. when his room was shaken and he saw a flash out the window.
At first, Kaddoumi said he thought it was thunder and lightning or an earthquake. By the time he got out of his room, smoke was everywhere and his colleagues told him Haniyeh was killed. Kaddoumi saw Haniyeh face down, on the floor. He spotted the body of Haniyeh’s bodyguard, holding a bloody Quran. No one else was injured, he said.
There was so much dust and smoke in the room, Kaddoumi had to wear a mask. The roof and the walls overlooking the exterior were destroyed, he said.
Kaddoumi said it looked like the room was hit by a missile. A photo that he said was of the building after the attack appeared to show less structural damage than would typically be seen from a large airstrike. The damage appeared more consistent with a smaller explosive, potentially delivered by a drone or planted at the site.
Kaddoumi said Haniyeh had stayed in the same guesthouse in May, when he attended the funeral of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a plane crash.
Haniyeh’s killing was another blow to the Hamas leadership.
On Thursday, Israel announced that it killed the shadowy leader of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, in a July airstrike. Hamas had previously claimed Deif survived last month’s targeted airstrike in the besieged Gaza Strip, and did not comment on Israel's more recent claim.
The deadly pattern of Israeli airstrikes and skirmishes continued in Gaza, where Palestinian Civil Defense rescuers said a barrage of airstrikes Friday in southern Gaza City killed five Palestinians, including three children. The Israeli military said it had destroyed rocket launchers used by Hamas hours earlier.
There were no services held for Haniyeh in the enclave, where the extent of loss has become so overwhelming that Palestinians are forced to inter their dead family members hurriedly and without last rites.
“We can't memorialize any of our loved ones anymore, funerals are too risky for fear of being killed in bombing ourselves,” said Ahmed Qamar, 35, displaced in a shelter in northern Gaza.
At least 39,480 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the nearly 10 months since Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel triggered the latest Israel-Hamas war. Palestinian health authorities providing the casualty tolls do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Tensions also ran high on Israel’s northern border days after Israel claimed responsibility for killing Shukr, the Hezbollah commander. On Friday, Hezbollah claimed a series of rocket and artillery attacks on Israel, causing a fire but no casualties in an evacuated Israeli town. Israel claimed its warplanes struck two Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon who it said had fired the volley of rockets.
The exchange was more of the same tit-for-tat that has flared along the Lebanese-Israeli border throughout the Israel-Hamas war. But Israelis and Lebanese braced for more after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday declared that Shukr's killing had pushed the conflict into a “new phase."
Across the region, vows by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that Israel would pay a price for killing Haniyeh on Iranian soil quickly led to calls for intense diplomacy to prevent further escalation.
Late Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden said he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seize the chance for a cease-fire, adding that Haniyeh's killing in Iran had “not helped" efforts to negotiate an end to the war.
Netanyahu has portrayed Israel's recent targeting of Hamas leaders as victories that bring Israel closer to a deal that would free the roughly 110 remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Tor Wennesland, the U.N. special coordinator for the Mideast peace process, said he was racing to work with Lebanon, Qatar, Egypt and other nations to “prevent a spillover of the conflict.”
U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey and Foreign Secretary David Lammy visited Israel on Friday “to push for an immediate cease-fire," while Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said he spoke with his American counterpart, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
“The unprecedented security cooperation between Israel and the United States against Iran and its proxies is critical," Gallant said.
Though approvals are still pending, Austin is preparing to provide additional military support to Israel and boost protection for U.S. troops in the region , against any threats from Iran and its regional proxies, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Friday. That could involve deploying additional military units, she said, declining to provide details.
DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Associated Press writers Sarah El Deeb in Beirut and Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.
With destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip behind him, an Israeli soldier waves from a tank, near the Israel-Gaza border in southern Israel, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
Iranians follow the truck carrying the coffins of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard who were killed in an assassination blamed on Israel on Wednesday, during their funeral ceremony at Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) Sq. in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Palestinians search for bodies and survivors in a site hit by an Israeli bombardment on Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 13, 2024. The Israeli military said Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, that it has confirmed that the head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)
FILE -Palestinians inspect the damage at a site hit by an Israeli bombardment on Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 13, 2024. Israel said it targeted Hamas' shadowy military commander Mohammed Deif in a massive strike Saturday in the crowded southern Gaza Strip that killed at least 71 people, according to local health officials. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)
This video grab shows senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, center, praying near the coffin of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard during the funeral prayers in Doha, Qatar, Friday Aug. 2, 2024. (Qatar TV via AP)
This video grab shows Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh's coffin being carried out after the funeral prayers in Doha, Qatar, Friday Aug. 2, 2024. (Qatar TV via AP)
LONDON (AP) — The sequel to Prince Harry vs. the British tabloids begins Tuesday in a high-stakes trial pitting him against Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers that could cost him millions even if he wins.
Harry, 40, the younger son of King Charles III, and one other claimant remain alone among hundreds who have settled lawsuits against News Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World, over a llegations their phones were hacked and investigators unlawfully snooped on their lives.
It will be the first case of its kind to go to trial against the publisher since a widespread phone hacking scandal forced Murdoch to close News of the World in 2011. News Group has settled more than 1,300 other claims.
For the Duke of Sussex, it will be the second trial in London's High Court in his long-running feud with the press that he blames for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash while being chased by paparazzi. He also blames them for persistent attacks on his wife, actor Meghan Markle, that led them to leave the royal life and flee to the U.S. in 2020.
Harry has said his mission to hold the media accountable has led to a rift with his family but it's one he feels compelled to carry out to expose wrongdoing.
He won a similar case against the publisher of the Daily Mirror in 2023 and he has another case pending against the Daily Mail's publisher.
Here's a look at the case:
Harry claims News Group journalists and private investigators they hired violated his privacy by using unlawful tactics to dig up dirt on him and his family between 1996 and 2011.
His fellow claimant, Tom Watson, a former deputy leader of the Labour Party, said his voicemails were intercepted during a period when he was investigating the hacking scandal.
Their lawyer said the newspapers had a widespread practice of using deception to obtain medical, phone and flight records, bugged homes and placed listening devices in cars.
They allege that executives concealed the skullduggery through means that included destroying documents.
“This allegation is wrong, unsustainable, and is strongly denied,” News Group said in a statement.
Former executives accused of playing a role include Will Lewis, now CEO of the Washington Post, and Rebekah Brooks, CEO of News UK, a division of News Corp. They have denied wrongdoing.
Brooks was acquitted of phone hacking conspiracy charges in a criminal trial in 2014, though her former colleague, Andy Coulson, who was later spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron, was jailed.
News Group strongly denies the allegations and it said Harry failed to bring his lawsuit within the required six-year limit.
News Group apologized to News of the World phone hacking victims in 2011. The Sun has never accepted liability.
Actor Hugh Grant had been one of Harry's remaining co-claimants, but said he was forced to accept “an enormous sum of money” to settle because he could have faced a legal bill of 10 million pounds ($12.3 million) even if he won at trial.
Under English civil law, a claimant who wins a court judgment that is lower than what they were offered to settle, has to pay the legal bills for both sides. The law is intended to discourage lengthy trials.
Despite the grave financial risk, Harry told The New York Times Dealbook Summit in December that he was not going to fold.
“They’ve settled because they’ve had to settle," he said of other claimants. "One of the main reasons for seeing this through is accountability, because I’m the last person that can actually achieve that.”
The trial, which is expected to last 10 weeks, will put Harry back in the witness box for several days in February.
In 2023, Harry became the first senior member of the royal family to testify in court since the late 19th century, when Queen Victoria’s eldest son, Prince Albert Edward, testified twice.
That has put Harry at odds with a family famous for a “never complain, never explain" attitude.
Harry revealed in court papers that his father opposed his litigation. He also said his older brother William, Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, had received a “huge sum” to settle a complaint against News Group.
Harry said his tabloid war was central to his fallout with his family.
“The mission continues, but it has, yes, it’s caused, as you say, part of a rift,” Harry said in the documentary “Tabloids On Trial.”
Harry said he wished his family had joined him in making a stand against media offenses.
“But, you know, I’m doing this for my reasons,” he said.
News Group has failed to kill the case over the past two years, but Harry has experienced some setbacks in a series of sometimes bruising hearings.
The publisher succeeded in getting Harry's phone hacking claims thrown out because the judge said he should have been aware of the widely publicized scandal and could have brought his lawsuit sooner.
The judge also rejected Harry's effort to broaden the case to include claims of eavesdropping on his mother, unearthing private information on his wife and implicating Murdoch.
Harry alleged Murdoch, who was chief executive of the company that controlled NGN, was part of the effort to conceal evidence of hacking or had “turned a blind eye” to it. The judge said those allegations would add nothing material to claims that include other “trusted lieutenants,” such as Brooks and Murdoch’s younger son, James Murdoch.
The judge also tossed out Harry's bid to include assertions that Buckingham Palace had a secret deal with News Group executives that called for a settlement and an apology to be worked out after other phone hacking litigation was resolved.
Judge Timothy Fancourt said Harry failed to produce witnesses or documents that could show his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, had approved of the deal to protect the royal family from embarrassing litigation.
The publisher denied there was any secret agreement.
FILE - Britain's Prince Harry arrives in the gardens of Buckingham Palace in London, Jan. 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)